Resident Evil: Return of a Nightmare
by Windra
Summary: Sequel to 'Raccoon City: Demon's Gate'. It is one month after the incident of Raccoon City.13-year-old Rowan Naton moved in with her aunt in New York. But what happens when Umbrella meddles with her and a friend's life once again? R&R! **COMPLETE**
1. Prologue

Resident Evil: Return of a Nightmare  
Prologue  
By Windra  
  
  
November 1, 1998  
  
45-year-old Damien Roscwood leaned forward in his chair, staring at his computer's screen with his icy blue eyes. His jet black hair went down to the tips of his ears, and he wore a black long sleeved shirt and denim jeans. The white lab coat that he usually wore was hanging on the back of his computer chair. The walls of his office were white-washed, and the rug was a light gray. Wooden book cases were lined along the right wall, and in the far left corner was an oak desk with a chair seated in front of it. A computer sat atop the desk, and security camera screens were on the back wall, showing him what was happening in every room of the building. Damien continued to stare at the reports that were sent to him from the employees in the Umbrella facility he controlled.  
  
Damien was the leader of an Umbrella facility many, many miles away from New York City. It was built far away from the city so it wouldn't attract attention, and it wasn't charted on the maps. In case anyone ever came across it, the building was disguised as a Weather Monitoring area. However, inside and underground, it was a research area for B.O.W.'s, bioweapons. The reports Damien was reading were about the B.O.W.'s or anything that concerned them.  
  
Currently, he was reading the reports of their special B.O.W., MA486, which was called Cougra by the employees. The beast was a mountain lion that was caught by Umbrella and injected with the G-Virus, a variation of the T-Virus. The mountain lion was quickly mutated into a fast and fierce beast, and it grew in size, as well. MA486 would surpass Hunters, and maybe even project SE42, a crocodile-hybrid that got loose in Raccoon City while it was being overrun with monsters from the T and G-Virus, when it came to hunting.  
  
Damien grinned at the reports. Cougra was developing its attacks more. The employees would feed it wildlife from outside and study how it attacks and feeds. Sometimes, the employees would be ordered to pit Cougra and another B.O.W. against each other, and study the results. Cougra had survived all of the opponents it faced, and was, by far, the strongest B.O.W. in Damien's facility.  
  
The man sighed and sat back, staring at the cieling. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.  
  
"Come in," Damien said cooly.  
  
The door opened, and Rachel Kinston walked in. The girl was 32-years-old and had long, chestnut brown hair that went just below her shoulder-blades. She wore a dark red tee-shirt and black jeans, and had green eyes. The girl gave a weak smile and walked in.  
  
"Sir," she said softly, "we have discovered where two of the four survivors of Raccoon City are."  
  
"Explain."  
  
"Christopher Hanoltin, an Umbrella agent, lives in Gillenston Town, New York. He reported that, the other day, he saw two of the survivors in the town.Apparently, the young girl named Rowan Naton was living there with her aunt, and a S.T.A.R.S. member named Brad Vickers had just moved there."  
  
Damien laughed. His employees had the Umbrella agents everywhere looking for them. A few weeks ago, Raccoon City was infected with the T and G-Virus. The city became overrun with monsters for a few days until Umbrella sent in missiles to destroy the city, along with any evidence of the T and G-Virus or any B.O.W.'s. Jake Wilntow, a secret Watchdog, had made his escape and told Damien that there were four survivors that escaped on a helicopter. Each Watchdog recorded reports onto a floppy disk, and they sent in the data to Umbrella. Jake found Nicholai Ginovaef's, who had been killed by project SE42, data and sent it to Umbrella as well as his own. The disk reported that the four survivors were Jill Valentine, a former S.T.A.R.S. member, Brad Vickers, another S.T.A.R.S. member, Carlos Oliveira, a U.B.C.S. member, and Rowan Naton, a student at the Raccoon City Middle School North.   
  
"Good," he said coldly. "Send in your group of agents. I want you to bring the two survivors here."  
  
"Yes, sir...," the girl responded solemnly. She turned towards the door and opened it, walking out and closing it behind her.  
  
Damien stared at the ceiling and gave a low, cold cackle.  
  
**********  
  
Sorry about the delay. My family and I just movedm and we needed to get everything set up. R&R!! 


	2. Chapter 1

Resident Evil: Return of a Nightmare  
Chapter 1  
By Windra  
  
  
iRowan stood with the three other survivors, Carlos, Jill, and Brad, and all of them were back to back, gazing at their surroundings. They were in a room high above the ground. There were no doors, but only windows that looked outside, to the ruins of Raccoon City. Smoke curled into the air, and smoldering fires burnt everything on the ground. Every building and car in sight burned slowly. The night sky made everything shadowed and dark.  
  
Blood, all over the walls that stood around them. Smeared in some places, while in others it trickled down the walls and formed pools on the floor. There was a sickening stench in the air, as well. The smell of bile and something rotten; the smell of decay.  
  
All around them, inside the doorless room, were ghastly, hungry moans. The decaying figures of the undead and T-Virus infected humans shambled towards them, their arms outstretched. They were only around five feet away.  
  
Rowan reached for her Colt Python, only to find that it wasn't there. The Beretta and the combat knife were gone, as well. Panick stricken, she glanced at the others, only to see that their weapons were gone, too.  
  
There was a moan in front of her, and Rowan looked up, gasping at what she saw.  
  
Her mother was standing in front of her. Her long, brown hair was matted with blood and her green eyes were glazed over. Her tattered blue tee-shirt and denim jeans were caked with dry and new blood, and the bite marks around her neck and body were old and dry.   
  
Rowan glanced over her shoulder quickly to see what the other three were doing, but they were nowhere to be seen. The only thing she saw behind her was a slowly advancing army of the undead, whaling in fixed, helpless hunger. Rowan gasped, turning her head to face what was once her mother, only to see that it was now directly in front of her.  
  
The thing that was once her mother moaned, and, without a second's hesitation, it lunged at Rowan, its clammy hands gripping her shoulder. It brought its teeth to her neck, ripping at it. Rowan threw back her head and opened her mouth to scream, but no sound came out. The only thing that came was searing pain, the feeling of warm blood trickling down her neck, and, within a second later, her vision clouded over with darkness-/i  
  
- and 13-year-old Rowan Naton bolted upright in her bed, gasping and sweating. She brought her right hand to her neck and rubbed it, even though there was no wound. Yet, it felt so real, just like all of the other nightmares that haunted her ever since the Raccoon City incident...  
  
About four or five months ago, cannibal murders started to appear on the outskirts of Raccoon City. They increased as time went on, and the S.T.A.R.S. team were sent in to investigate a mansion in the forest in July, a month after the attacks started. During the time they investigated, the mansion exploded. Rowan didn't think it was anything major, or at least, not at the time. The S.T.A.R.S. team was suspended, and life went on.  
  
And then, in September, the cannibal attacks started to happen. This time, Rowan got anxious. Her parents told her to be home at a certain time, and her friends' parents were doing the same thing to them. As the number of attacks increased, her parents got more strict and she grew more nervous. During September 26, Rowan went to school expecting a normal day. She had gone to lunch and sat at a table with her three best friends- Kristin Locke, Sarah Tantel, and Victoria Salmith. That was when the trouble began.  
  
As the four ate their lunch, a badly wounded man walked into the cafeteria. Rowan didn't want to remember what he looked like, but the smell that radiated from him struck the entire lunchroom. He smelt horribly like bile and rotten eggs. The man stumbled over to Mrs. Graylee, a guidance couselor and overseer of the lunchroom. She had mistakened him for a wounded human and tried to give him a pass to the Nurse's office, but the man lunged at her, tearing into her.   
  
Rowan had jumped onto the stage and tried to kill the thing with a music stand, but to no avail. It wasn't until she was cornered by it that she realized that the head was the weak spot and gave it a hard slam in the head with the music stand. It fell ad didn't get up, but it was far from over. An army of them were outside, banging on the doors and windows. Rowan and her friends fleed, and the doors and windows broke open. The zombies poured in, and Sarah and Victoria fell victim to them.  
  
Rowan and Kristin fled to the janitor's room, staying there for the night and trying to gain some rest as the zombies pounded on the double doors the two girls had come through. Rowan tried to call her parents, only to hear them mutilated by the undead. The children stayed there until late September 27, when a Drain Deimos made its entrance, taking Kristin's life as it left.   
  
Rowan stayed there and waited for it to come back, losing the will to live. That was when she remembered that her mother and Sarah's last words were for her to live, and Rowan decided that she would fulfill their wish. So, in the early hours of September 28, the girl set out to find a way to escape the doomed city.  
  
Not wanting to be unarmed, Rowan had made it to Kendo's Gun Shop. She was amazed to see that the guy was still in the city, and when she asked why, he said that other people might need the guns, and he would help them. He told her that the R.P.D., the Raccoon City Police Department, was supposed to be gathering up the survivors to get them out of the city. Taking a Beretta, she left the shop and headed to the R.P.D.  
  
She arrived at the the police station about ten or twenty minutes later, killing an undead dog in the process. She headed to the side area, a place concealed with bushes, hiding her and an overheating police car from any monsters. It was then that she heard two people speaking in front of the R.P.D. She looked over the bushes to see two people standing there, and, a minute later, the roar of a monster shook the ground. A hulking human-like beast wearing a black leather trench coat and black leather pants leapt in between the two, chasing a man to the wall of a building and lifting him up.  
  
When Rowan went to interfere, the overheating police car became engulfed in flames. Unfortunately, the flames also hit a pool of oil below the car, causing an explosion and sending her flying into the monster, causing it to drop the man and go after her instead.   
  
She ran to an alley, and, when it turned to a dead end, ran for the door of the R.P.D., which was being held open by the two people. She jumped in and helped the two people hold the door closed against the monster's pounding fists. After a while, it left the door, and Rowan asked who the two were.   
  
They were both S.T.A.R.S. members; the man was Brad Vickers, and the woman was Jill Valentine. Rowan introduced herself, and asked what was going on in the city. What she found out shocked her to the very core.  
  
The S.T.A.R.S. team was split into two groups; the Bravo team and the Alpha team. The Alpha team had Jill, Brad, Joseph Frost, Barry Burton, Chris Redfield, and Albert Wesker, the captain. The Bravos included Enrico Marini, Forest Speyer, Rebbecca Chambers, Kenneth Sullivan, and Richard Aiken. In July, the S.T.A.R.S. team was sent to investigate the area where the cannibal attacks seemed to originate from; a mansion in the woods called the Spencer Estate.  
  
The Bravos were sent in first, and their helicopter went down. The Alpha came to check out what happened to them, and when they got there, the group saw that the Bravo helicopter was empty of both people and equipment. Joseph found a severed hand holding a gun in the grass, and yelled out. That was when a pack of undead dogs charged at him from in the woods, attacking him. The group of people ran to the mansion because Brad, the pilot, flew the helicopter off of the ground in fear.   
  
The four members of the Alpha team entered the mansion and explored, only to find numerous monsters hanging around the building. There was a giant man-eating plant named Plant 42, undead dogs called Cerberus, zombies, mutated monkeys with claws called Chimeras, giant spiders called Web Spinners, mutated frogs and lizards with claws called Hunters, an undead Great White Shark called the Neptune, and flesh-eating crows. The worst was the Tyrant, something that used to be a human, but had parts of its body removed or altered. As the group trecked through the mansion, they found out that the Umbrella created T-Virus was what caused the chaos to occur in the mansion.   
  
The T-Virus was a mutegenic toxin created by Umbrella to make bioweapons. The virus would infect anything- humans, plants, animals. It stripped all humanity from the carriers- joy love, sorrow, anger- and turned them into blood-thirsty monsters. They didn't even fall when a bullet penetrated their hearts, and they didn't feel pain. It would take a shot in the head to kill one. One bite, or even one scratch, from the monsters would infect the wounded person with the virus, and the virus would carry on.  
  
According to Jill and Brad, Albert Wesker was secretly working for White Umbrella, a branch of Umbrella that specialized in the bioweapons. In the mansion, Wesker threatened Barry by telling him that some employees of White Umbrella were outside of his house, waiting for the order to kill his family if Barry disagreed to help him. Barry, not wanting to see his family hurt, agreed, and tried to keep Jill out of Wesker's way. However, when he overheard Wesker telling Jill that there was no one waiting to go in and kill his family, Barry smacked the traitor on the head with the butt of his gun, making him fall unconcious.  
  
Wesker soon came to his senses and headed into the room where the Tyrant was kept. He released it, but not before preparing a self-destruct mode of the mansion. When the Tyrant was released, though, Wesker was killed by his own creation.   
  
Chris had found Rebbecca, and those two, Jill, and Barry made their way to a helipad on the roof. Brad found the helipad and was about to land, when the Tyrant attacked. It started after the four on the ground, and in the air, Brad had managed to throw the rocket launcher down to them. Chris used it destroy the Tyrant, and the five were able to make it to safety as the mansion exploded behind them.  
  
Chief Irons, the captain of the R.P.D., said that the S.T.A.R.S. members were drunk at the time, setting the mansion on fire, and the story was a fake to cover up the truth. Irons was probably working for Umbrella. The chief suspended the S.T.A.R.S. team, and in the meantime, the five of them had to avoide being captured by Umbrella.   
  
Chris and Barry headed to Europe, preparing to infultrate an Umbrella facility. Rebbecca had gone with David Trapp, John Andrews, a man named Steve, and a woman named Karen. They headed to Caliban Cove, Maine, to sneak into another Umbrella facility. The facility went up in an explosion, and Karen and Steve were killed. Rebbecca, David, and John survived. Brad had skipped town in fear of what Umbrella would do if they caught him, and Jill had been preparing to go to Europe to join Chris and Barry.  
  
Jill was still in the city when the outbreak of zombies occurred. She wound up trapped in the city. Brad came back to the city late on September 27 to try to find survivors. Both of them had headed to the R.P.D. around the same time, and met up with Rowan.  
  
After trying to recover from shock, the three had looked through the R.P.D. to find equipment or anything else that might help them. Jill found her S.T.A.R.S. card, and the three had found a jem that belonged to a clock-like structure in front of the City Hall. They also found a key that opened the S.T.A.R.S. office, and Brad and Jill went to check it out. Not long afterwards, the S.T.A.R.S. hunter attacked again, forcing them out of the R.P.D. and to another area of the city.  
  
In a car garage, the ground had started to shake. It ended abruptly, and the three of them continued to find themselves in a resturaunt. After checking the place out, another man named Carlos Oliveira snuck up on them. Jill, Rowan, and Brad had almost shot him because they thought he was a zombie. A little after they met him, the Tyrant Seeker made another assault. Jill threw an oil lamp that she had lit in fire at it, and it exploded in the monster's face, sending it falling. It began to stir, and not wanting to become its victims, the four of them fled.  
  
Outside, Carlos told him that he was part of the U.B.C.S. team, and Jill freaked out. Carlos said that he wasn't involved in the science department, and he didn't even know about the T-Virus. When Jill cooled off a little, he headed off to search the city and find a way out.  
  
The three survivors had headed to the City Hall, but their journey was stopped when an all too familiar Drain Deimos attacked them. It was the same one that killed Kristin Locke, and Rowan became angry. She had fired about five shots into the beast's head until it fell.  
  
When they got to the City Hall, they put the gem from the R.P.D. into the clock-like structure there, and Brad found one on the ground, and put it in. The gate opened, and, when they started for the doors of the City Hall, a pair of Hunters assaulted them. They slammed into a pile of cars right next to Rowan, and the cars tumbled in front of her, cornering her and crushing the Hunters. She had to go through a manhole in the corner where she was, and slinked into the sewers.  
  
Rowan had searched te sewers for what seemed like hours, and she stumbled upon a room with a journal in it. Rowan remembered the word of that journal almost by heart, because she had kept looking over it when they were in the city. It read:  
  
'September 24, 1998  
I've been picked as a Watchdog for collecting information about the virus that is going around Raccoon. In Operation Watchdog, certain people who work with Umbrella are picked to go into Raccoon City disguised as workers, scientists, soldiers, and other things. Our duty is to study the effects of the virus on the city and the people and report the status of the city to Umbrella using computers. There are only ten Watchdogs, three of which I know are Davis Chan, Terence Foster, and some weird and spooky Russian named Nicholai. I'm supposed to be a woman who works for the city. I have my equipment ready, and, if my calculations are correct, it shouldn't be long until the city is infected...'  
  
'September 26, 1998  
It has begun. The city started to become overrun with the virus carriers. One of the first places that got hit was Raccoon City Middle School North, and I feel sorry for all of the children who lost their lives. I got word that Umbrella sent the Tyrant seeker, a.k.a. Nemesis, as we call it, out to hunt down the remaining S.T.A.R.S. members that are still in the city. Nicholai and his men arrived, although the rest of the U.B.C.S. are unaware of Operation Watchdog, Umbrella's bioweapons experiments, or the T-virus. The U.B.C.S.'s mission is to rescue civilians. The rest of the Watchdogs are somewhere in the city, reporting to Umbrella. I'll be reporting in a few minutes, as well.'  
  
'September 28, 1998  
Nicholai's coming for me, I just know it. He knows I'm a Watchdog and wants me dead. He probably wants the data I reported, which I saved on a floppy disk. I believe he wants to kill all the Watchdogs and collect their data, making him the only surviving Watchdog and extremely wealthy. I won't be able to hide for long, so I plan on facing him bravely. If anyone finds this journal, chances are that I'm prbably dead. Now I regret joining Umbrella, and now I see all the pain they caused. It has to end. Stop Nicholai, and stop Umbrella before something worse that Raccoon City happens...  
Janice Thomlinson'  
  
When Rowan had gone to put the book in her pouch, a key fell out. She unlocked the top droor of the desk in the room she was in, and found a Colt Python, as well as clips for it and the Beretta.  
  
She made her way out of the room, and heard the clatter of an M-16 in the distance. She ran towards the source of the sound, and was nearly shot in the head by the maniac Russian named Nicholai. When she went to see where the shots were fired, she saw the body of Janice slumped against the wall, mangled and torn by the bullets.  
  
Rowan had to find her way out of the sewers, and when she was close to getting out, she was attacked by something incredible. A huge crocodile-like monster, standing on its hind legs, with two spikes protruding from its head. It had a mouthful of razor sharp teeth, had a pair of yellow, reptillian eyes, and a long, thrashing tail that was about five feet long. The beast chased after her, and Rowan fled before it could get her, making her way to a safe place and spending the night there.  
  
The next morning, the girl had run to the clocktower after getting ambushed by the crocodile hybrid, and ran inside, leaving the beast to pound at the doors. When the monster left, Rowan saw two figures walk up to her, which she mistakened for monsters. It turned out to be Carlos and Brad, and they led her to a room where Jill was laying down, looking feverish.  
  
It turned out that while she was gone, Brad and Jill had gone to the trolley and met up with Carlos and his friends, Mikhail Vector and Nicholai Givonaef. Nicholai had gone off to find some equipment. Mikhail had been shot by someone, and was lying in the seat of a trolley. The trolley was missing some equipment, so Carlos, Brad, and Jill set out to find them.  
  
Jill had gone to one building and found Nicholai typing in a laptop. He said he was trying to get help, but he was actually typing data of what was going on in Raccoon City. While Jill looked around, a horde of zombies attacked. She fled, but didn't see Nicholai there at all. He had probably been dragged of by the virus carriers.  
  
She got back to the trolley and, when Carlos and Brad got back, she told them that Nicholai wouldn't be joining them. The three of them got into the engine compartment of the trolley and fixed the damage done to the engine, and the trolley was up and running.  
  
Then the S.T.A.R.S. hunter, Nemesis, attacked. It had gone into the same compartment as Mikhail. Brad and Jill went in his compartment and tried to stop it, but Mikhail told them to get out of the compartment, he pulled out a grenade, and set it off when the other two were out of his area. The Mikhail's compartment exploded, and Nemesis was no longer to be seen. Mikhail sacrified his life to save his comrades' lives.  
  
The trolley went out of control, and Carlos pulled the emergency break to try and stop it. It crashed into the yard of the clocktower. Carlos, Jill, and Brad got out to inspect the area, and found out that the clocktower's bells had some sort of tracking device on them. It would signal a helicopter to come there and pick up any survivors. When they went to turn it on, they discovered that they needed a gear.  
  
They went back out of the gear room and were ambushed by Nemesis again. They were able to push it off of the side of the roof, and the three of them continued into the main building to try and fine the gear. They found it shortly after, but not before trying to solve a puzzle. They got back to the gear room and inserted the gear. The bell began to ring, and a helicopter came.  
  
However, Nemesis was back, and it wouldn't let the three escape. It fired a shot at the chopper with its rocket launcher, sending it into a thousand pieces, and then it went after them. The thing punctured Jill's shoulder with a tentacle, infecting her with the T-Virus in the process. Then Brad and Carlos got in the way, and, when it was about to shoot at them, Carlos fired a few rounds into the barrel of the rocket launcher, causing it to explode in the monster's face and making it collapse.  
  
Carlos and Brad brought Jill to a secure area in the clocktower, trying to figure out where to find the vaccination for the T-Virus while Jill went in and out of conciousness. That was when Rowan had showed up and they heard the primordial roar of the crocodile-hybrid.   
  
Rowan showed them Janice Thomlinson's journal, and they were utterly shocked. Trying to get over it, they suggested that the vaccine might be at the hospital, and Brad and Rowan went to investigate it while Carlos stayed behind to keep an eye on Jill.  
  
They got the the hospital sometime later, and were attacked by a variation of a Hunter as soon as they walked in the door. They came to a room where a man was lying on the ground, moaning from pain, since he had been shot. Nicholai snuck up behind them and held them at gunpoint, trying to pry information out of them. They were telling mostly lies, trying to trick Nicholai. In the meantime, Ken Franklin, the wounded Watchdog who was slumped in the corner, thre a grenade at them. Brad and Rowan dived out of the way and, unfortunately, so did Nicholai.   
  
Nicholai had dropped the vaccine, however, and the two grabbed it, heading for the door when Rowan tripped over a book. She opened it, and saw that it showed pictures of the monsters lurking the city, and it also gave descriptions about them. Rowan froze when she saw the report on the crocodile-hybrid. It had read:  
  
'SE42, also known as Behemoth. It was a crocodile that was infected with an altered version of the T-Virus. The virus was altered so that it would be able to outsmart prey, but the virus has mutated it beyond our imagination. It is incredibly strong and broke out of the laboratories once, killing two people before some of the experts were sent to use tranquilizers on it. We were forced to contain it in a small steel cage in a secret room in the sewers, but we are not positive how long it will sleep, or how long the cage will hold it.'  
  
The two made their way to the clocktower again, and, after being jumped by Behemoth, had gotten to Jill and Carlos, only to see the former U.B.C.S. member fighting Nemesis. Brad and Rowan interfered, and the beast turned towards them, preparing to attack, until Jill stumbled into view and fired a round from the grenade launcher at it. The beast collapsed, and, after a moment, so did Jill.  
  
They carried her back into the safe room and injected her with the vaccine. The next day, Jill came back to her senses, and the rest of the group explained what happened while she was unconciouss. Carlos said he found a video tape on a man inside the clocktower. Curious, they headed to a room behind the stairs, where a VCR was kept, and popped the video in.  
  
The video showed a woman named Alice and a man named Matt in the hallway of what Jill said was the Spencer Estate before they came. Matt had three long, ragged scratch marks on his left arm, and Alice was holding an injector to it, probably the vaccination of the virus, preparing to inject it-  
  
-when dozens of men clad in white suits burst through the door, grabbing her as they hauled Matt away on a stretcher. One man said that he wanted Matt to be in the Nemesis project, and the screen faded out in static. The static cleared and showed a pure white room with a stretcher in front, along with two scientists clad in white sitting alongside either side of it.   
  
One of the men said that they needed to mutate a few more cells, and the Nemesis would be ready to hunt the S.T.A.R.S. down by the time Raccoon was in the middle of infection. The beast lifted its head, which seemed more like a human's, and gave out a roar that sounded like a call for help, but, at the same time, a roar.  
  
Later on, Carlos gave the Brad, Jill, and Rowan another shock. A man named Trent had contacted him, telling him information about the T-Virus and Raccoon City. He said that Trent said there was a helicopter at the water treatment facility in the city. It turned out Trent seemed to be working for Umbrella because he knew too much, and he was helping those who rebelled against Umbrella. Perhaps he had a grudge against Umbrella?  
  
The group spent the next few days rumaging through the clocktower and looking for equipment. They set out very early on October 2, when a horde of zombies decided to attack the clocktower. They fled before they could get to them, and made their way to the water treatment facility. Nicholai tried to jump them when they got there, but they caught him first. He was trying to find something to say, when the earth beneath them shook and a giant, carnivorous worm emerged from the earth.  
  
Nicholai fled, and the worm attacked. Carlos led it to some water, and, when it dived for him, he threw an electrical lanturn he got nearby in the water and dodged as the beast hit the water and was electrocuted.   
  
They ran towards the facility, and Jill and Brad shoved the Nemesis off of the bridge when it attacked again. They got inside and to a room with radio equipment in it. Brad tried to get through to people outside of the city, but all of the lines were static, except for one. The channel he turned to was a recording that warned them that at daylight, missiles would be sent to destroy the city.   
  
Without wanting to waste time, they group headed to where the helicopters were supposed to be kept. That was, until Nicholai snuck up on them, holding Rowan by gunpoint.  
  
As he was about to pull the trigger, Rowan was saved by the very monster that had stalked her throughout the city. Behemoth snuck up behind them and impaled Nicholai with one of its clawed arms. Rowan crawled away as Behemoth lifted the man to the ground, threw him down roughly, and tore into him with its claws. As a finishing touch, it suffocated the man by clamping its jaws around his throat, and began to feast. Brad, Jill, and Carlos ran for the chopper room, and Rowan lagged behind a minute, exchanging a glance with the monster before she followed.  
  
They got the the helicopters, but they weren't alone. Nemesis had followed, but it had evolved. The monster lashed out at Jill, who missed by inches, then picked up Brad when he came running from the helicopter after he started it up. Rowan fired a shot into the beast's only good eye, and, blinded, it dropped Brad and flailed wildly. Jill ran to a laser cannon that was on the other side of the room, and powered it up while Rowan, Brad, and Carlos lured it into the path of the cannon. The beast used its scent to follow them, and when it was in the path, the laser cannon fired, destroying Nemesis to a mere hump of ash.  
  
They had fled the city within minutes, and behind them, an explosion rocked the ground as the missiles made contact with the city, sending a shokwave through the air. Since then, Rowan had never looked back, and she swore that Umbrella would pay for making her friends, her family, and thousands of others lose their lives.  
  
Jill and Carlos had gone to Europe to join Chris and Barry. Jill said that David Trapp, Rebbecca Chambers, and John Andrews were supposed to be heading there, as well as two others who were supposed to be Claire Redfield, Chris Redfield's sister, and Leon Kennedy, a rookie R.P.D. officer, who had also escaped Raccoon City. Jill and Carlos also invited Brad to come, but he declined, saying he was afraid that he'd choke under the gun when they needed him most, and didn't want to wind up putting them in danger.   
  
So Jill and Carlos left. Brad was skipping towns, trying to hack into Umbrella's data at the same time. Rowan had moved into her aunt's, Aunt Gartha's, house in a small town called Gillenston Town, in New York. Before Jill and Carlos left, they and Brad had explained what happened. Surprisingly enough, she believed them and said that she would do whatever she could do to help.  
  
About a week ago, Brad had moved into town, but he would going to another one in a few weeks. His apartment was across the town, but Rowan would be able to ride her bicycle down there to drop in and see what was going on. She was also getting hacking lessons from him, and was doing whatever she could to look up information on Umbrella.  
  
Rowan stood up from her bed, carefully moving the family gray and white kitten named Felix, who had been asleep on her bed, and placing him on the floor. The cat stretched, then leapt back onto the bed, mewing softly before it curled back into a ball. The alarm clock on the lamp table to her left read 5:00 A.M. It was November 2, about a month from when she and the others had escaped the city, and the winter chill was settling in earlier than ever. School was out for two weeks, since they were refurnishing it at the time.   
  
Reaching over and turning the lamp next to the alarm clock on, Rowan turned to her dresser, pulling out a navy blue tee-shirt out and a pair of black jeans. She took out her other neccessities, then stared in the mirror. A face with wavy brown hair and hazel eyes stared back at her. Her hair had grown to go just below her shoulders, and her face was more of an oval shape than it was a month ago. Sighing, she walked into the bathroom silently, not wanting to wake her aunt up.  
  
Her Uncle Tom had passed away of a disease called luekemia a year ago, and her aunt had been living alone since then. She felt sorry for her, and did her best to give her a lot of company.   
  
She closed the bathroom door and turned the shower on, then slipped in after removing her nightgown.   
  
**********  
  
Gartha Ationiete opened her green eyes wearilly when she heard the water in the bathroom running. She sighed, brushing a locke of her firery red hair from her face. The girl was such a nervous wreck lately, and Gartha herself had been aware of what was happening around her neice.  
  
Umbrella's experiments shocked her to the very core. She never thought that the former pharmaceutical company would be doing that. Yet, since what happened to Raccoon City and, before that, the Spencer Estate, she had accepted it. The poor 13-year-old had so much on her shoulders. Her parents were dead, and so were her friends and thousands of others. She was heart-broken, probably, and anxious about what Umbrella was going to do...  
  
iShe's acting the way I acted when Tom died.../i  
  
She pushed the thought away and pulled the blanket tighter around her. Sighing, she felt herself begin to doze off. Whatever would come would come, they would just have to find a way to deal with it, or fight back.  
  
**********  
  
Across the town, Brad Vickers wasn't having much of an easy sleep, either. He was staring blankly at the wall with his brown eyes, trying to sort through his own thoughts.  
  
Umbrella's experiments. He wasn't surprised when Umbrella was able to cover up the entire story of Raccoon City, yet, how could they hide the fact of how thousands died because of their experiments? But Umbrella was able to cover up the Spencer incident, as well. They probably hired a few police chiefs and scientists to make up excuses instead of what really happened. Recently, they said a group of terrorists had planted numerous bombs around the city, and many people believed it.  
  
He wasn't going to let Umbrella keep up their dirty work, though. He might've stayed behind and been skipping towns, but, at the same time, he was trying to hack into Umbrella's files and find out where some of their facilities were.   
  
iUmbrella's not gonna win this time. I might've run away once, but I won't back down now./i  
  
Burshing his hand through his army-cut-like brown hair, he turned over in his bed, closed his eyes, and tried to get some sleep.  
  
**********  
  
Rachel Kinston sat in the back of a pure black van, gazing around at the other Umbrella agents, all clad in black. She was wearing a black suit herself. There was another van behind this one, and each contained about five Umbrella agents. Their mission was to capture the two survivors of Raccoon City, Rowan Naton and Brad Vickers.  
  
Rachel didn't want to do this. Putting up with watching Umbrella experiment with the T and G-Viruses was enough, but now she had to capture two survivors of Umbrella's mistake. Why couldn't Umbrella leave them alone?  
  
iBut this is what I get paid for, so its worth it...isn't it? No...But.../i  
  
Rachel shook her head, gaining some glances from the other agents. Sighing, she looked at the floor and tried going through her own thoughts.  
  
The van would arrive in Gillenston Town in a few more hours, about five in all. Solemnly, she took out a piece of paper from her pocket and began scribbling her thoughts on it, careful not to let the other agents see it. It wasn't helping, and she ripped th epaper in half, throwing the scraps in a garbage can next to her. She leaned against the wall of the van and stared at the roof of the van, thinking.  
  
**********  
  
Sorry I took so long. This chapter's an overview of what's going on. I'll be working on the next chapter. 


	3. Chapter 2

Resident Evil: Return of a Nightmare  
Chapter 2  
By Windra  
  
  
Rowan sat in front of her computer, typing away on the keyboard and trying to crack into some of Umbrella's files. She was wearing a blue tee-shirt and black jeans. Her hazel eyes scanned the monitor screen as she unconsiously brushed back some of her brown hair. So far, she wasn't having any luck on getting any information. Sighing, she pulled her hands away from the keyboard and leaned against the chair she sat in, glancing around her room.  
  
There was a window next to her computer desk that looked out on the street, and to her right was her bed. On the left wall was her dresser and a few loose articles, like notes and such. Her backpack was leaning against the top left corner of the room. Her small leather pouch was hidden in her closet, as well as the Colt Python and Beretta that hadn't been used since the event in Raccoon City. The small table to the left of her bed held a small alarm clock, which read 10:30 A.M. The breeze outside on the November 2nd morning was just as chilly as it was when Rowan woke up around 5:00.  
  
There was a knock on her bedroom door.  
  
"C'mon in," Rowan said, looking up.  
  
The door opened and Rowan's Aunt Gartha walked in. She had flaming red hair and bright green eyes. She wore a white long-sleeved shirt and denim jeans. At her feet, the family kitten, Felix, sprinted in, pouncing on a tassle that hung from the curtain of the window.  
  
"Hey, hon," Aunt Gartha said. "I'm gonna go to the store, ok?"  
  
"Alright," Rowan replied. "When'll you be back?"  
  
"In about a half hour." She glanced around the room. "Y'know my cell phone number, so call me if you need anything."  
  
"Right," the girl replied, nodding.   
  
"See ya, then," Gartha smiled, turning around and heading down the hall.  
  
"Bye, Auntie!" Rowan called after her, and she heard the door of the living room close.  
  
Rowan stood up, stretching her arms, and walked out of her bedroom as she heard her aunt's car drive away. Her room was the last door on the right of the hall, which turned left. The bathroom was on the right side of the hallway, and her aunt's room was farther down to the left. The hall ended in the living room, where the door to the street stood on the right wall. The rug was navy blue, and the walls were light blue. There was a dark blue sofa next to the door, and a chair matching the color of the sofa sat on the wall to the north of that. The television set sat directly across from the door, and a small coffeetable sat in the middle of the room.  
  
The kitchen was to the left of the living room. The walls were a dull white, and woodwork was all around the room. The phone hung on the wall left of the refrigerator, which was across the room. To the right of the refigerator was a door that led to the unfenced backyard. There were wooden cabinets around the kitchen, and the entire room was clean; there wasn't even a utensile lying around.  
  
Felix rubbed up against Rowan's right leg, and the girl giggled, bending over to pick the feline up. The cat began to playfully attack her hair, but jumped out of her arms in surprise when the phone rang.  
  
Rowan hurried over to the phone and took it off of the receiver.   
  
"Hello?" she asked.  
  
"Rowan," whispered a voice at the other end of the line, Brad's. "Listen, you gotta get out of the house."  
  
"What's wrong?" she asked quickly, her panic rising.  
  
"Umbrella's here, I'm sure of it. A black van just pulled up to my apartment, but I got out in time. I'm using my cellphone. I think I saw another van head towards your direction. Get out of there!"  
  
Rowan's face paled completely. She ran to the window in the living room and looked through the screen. A pure black van was turning the corner to the right of the road, heading for her house. It was going the speed limit, not wanting to attract attention.  
  
iUmbrella.../i  
  
"They're coming up the road, now!" she whispered frantically.   
  
"Head for the woods behind your house," Brad replied. "I'll try to meet you there."  
  
They hung up, and Rowan twirled around, thinking about getting her guns and leather pouch.  
  
iToo risky. There's no time!/i  
  
The girl ran for the kitchen door and tugged it open as the thrum of the van's engine stopped in front of her house. Not daring to look back, she slammed the door closed and ran.  
  
The kitchen door opened into a field, which stretched for about 25 feet until it came to the woods. The breeze that slapped at Rowan's face was cold and bitter, but she ignored it. The backs of other buildings blocked the field from the street's view, and nobody was wandering around the area. The forest's trees had brilliant shades of orange, red, and yellow, and the occasional green of a pine tree. The ground was littered with fallen pine needles and dead leaves.  
  
She was about halfway across the field when she heard people running behind her.   
  
iShit! I didn't lock the front door! That would've delayed 'em!/i  
  
That didn't matter now. What mattered was that she was being chased by a group of people from Umbrella, about two people from the sound of the footsteps.  
  
Rowan dashed into the woods as fast as she could, running up the sloped side and jumping the rocks that were in her way. From the sound of crunching leaves and panting behind her, the two people from Umbrella were not far behind. She looked behind her quickly enough to see two adults dressed in black chasing her, and her curiosity was punished as she tripped over a rock and stumbled for balance.  
  
The two Umbrella agents took this advantage and ran at full speed, but Rowan recovered her balance within a second of their frantic bolt. She darted between a pair of trees and sped off to the right, then turned left. There was a five foot drop in front of her, which she knew of because of the countless times she explored the woods since she moved to New York, and Rowan's feet came to the edge of it. Taking a deep breath, she leapt off of the side-  
  
-and her eyes widened when she saw two more agents standing on the ground below, waiting for her to land.   
  
Her feet hit the ground and made to run, but one of the agents reached out and grabbed her left wrist, pulling her close and covering her mouth with his hand to keep her quiet. The second agent grinned, and above, the other two were laughing.  
  
The man with his hand covering her face pulled her backwards, leading her back towards the house, but Rowan wouldn't let him. She opened her mouth as much as she could, and bit down on his hand...ihard/i  
  
The man yelled and his grip around Rowan loosened. She took the opportunity to dash into the woods again, the other three agents chasing after her as the bitten man cursed a string of obscenities.  
  
Rowan ran for what seemed like hours, except it was only a minute or two. The adults behind her were lagging behind, trying to catch up while the 13-year-old skimmed between trees and bushes to keep out of their grasp. A large rock wall came up to her left, turning sharply left-  
  
-and someone grabbed her, covering her mouth and pulling her into a deep crevice in the rock face. She gave a muffled cry, but froze when she saw the two Umbrella agents run past the crevice and continue running into the woods. The hand on her mouth loosened, and Rowan swung around, giving a sigh of relief when she saw who it was.  
  
"Jesus, Brad," she whispered. "Next time you do that, warn me, okay?"  
  
The man gave a weak smile. He had short, army-style brown hair and brown eyes. He was wearing orange camoflouge pants that blended in with the coloring of the wood in Autumn, and a green tee-shirt. He was unarmed, showing that he wasn't given much time to get his weapons.  
  
"Yeah," he whispered back. "You okay?"  
  
"Fine. You?"  
  
"Alright. How many are chasing you?"  
  
Rowan glanced over her shoulder to see if there was anyone else there, and, seeing that nobody was there, she turned back.  
  
"Four...I think. Three are chasing me. One of them got ahold of me, covered my mouth with his hand, and I-er-bit 'em. The last time I saw him, he was cursing and holding his hand."  
  
Brad gave a quiet snicker.  
  
"There's five on my tail, but I think I lost them. They were around here when I lost them..."  
  
Brad's voice trailed off into silence, and Rowan looked behind her. There was nobody there, but she heard voices conversing, and, from the sound of it, they were close by.  
  
"We'd better move," Brad continued.   
  
"Split up?" Rowan asked, raising a brow.  
  
Brad nodded. "Not much of a choice. You go left, I'll go right?"  
  
"Gotcha," she said, nodding.   
  
Rowan crawled towards the opening of the crevice silently, poking her head slightly out of it and looking around. There was no one there, but the voices drew closer. Not wanting to wait around to meet them, she crawled out of the rock face and darted stealthily to her left. Behind her, she heard Brad get out and move right.  
  
Rowan made a swift turn to the left again, heading down the downward slope. The number of trees began to thicken around her, and Rowan heard the sound of rushing water. Rowan could see the number of trees disperse in the distance, and she could see the shimmering water of a giant lake, a gentle stream to her left emptying into it. There was a trail to the right that led deeper into the woods. She would head for that trail. Smiling, she made a mad dash for the lake, running into the clearing just in front of it-  
  
-and something cold and hard hit the back of her head. Rowan's feet gave out suddenly, and she fell on her back, her eyes staring at the sky. Pain shot through her head, and her vision was blurring. She blinked, but the bluriness wouldn't go away. She suddenly felt dizzy, and her eyes drooped wearily.  
  
Rowan could see the blurry figures of three people in black walk to her side and sneer at her, their eyes twinkling and their mouths curved in wicked smiles. One of them was holding a gun by the barrel, showing that he had smacked her in the back of the head with the butt of the gun.  
  
The three that had ran past the crevice had gotten to the lake first.  
  
A woman clad in black walked over to her, staring at her solemnly. Rowan could make out the chestnut brown hair and green eyes slightly. The woman was looking at her with sympathy.  
  
But darkness clouded over Rowan's vision, and numbness swept over her sore body. Giving a low moan, her eyes closed as she dived into unconciousness.  
  
**********  
  
Brad had made a u-turn in the woods to run the direction Rowan had, suddenly becoming worried. He dashed through the woods quickly and quietly, glancing over his shoulders every so often.   
  
The voices of the agents that were by the crevice had faded, and Brad assumed that they had moved away from where he was. He shrugged off the thought and focused his mind on what was going on as the sound of running water reverberated through the forest. He heard voices up ahead, and he could see a lake. SIlently, he dashed behind a bush and stared out.  
  
There were five people in front of the lake, conversing with each other quietly. On the ground between them was the body of a girl...  
  
iNo.../i  
  
Rowan was lying there, but her chest was rising and falling, signaling that she was still alive, but unconciouss.  
  
Brad made to move, but something hard and cold pressed against his head, and her heard the unmistakable sound of a gun click.  
  
"Get up," the voice behind him ordered.  
  
Brad stood slowly, not daring to glance over his shoulder. He already knew who it was.  
  
It seemed that the Umbrella agents that were nearby the crevice in the rock face lured him and Rowan out. They tracked Brad down while the others took care of Rowan.  
  
Umbrella had caught them.   
  
**********  
  
Twenty minutes later, Gartha Antoinete pulled her white Mustang into the driveway of the house. She turned off the engine and grabbed the bag of groceries on the seat beside her, then stood out of the car. She walked towards the door and turned the knob, peering inside. She gasped.  
  
The door going out of the kitchen was wide open, and Rowan was nowhere in site. Felix was perched on the sofa, staring at the door as if it were in a trance.   
  
"Rowan?" Gartha called out, her voice trying to stay calm.  
  
No response.  
  
She dropped the bag on the kitchen table and walked to kitchen door, looking out. The grass was flattened in some areas, as if some people had run out and into the woods.  
  
"Rowan?!" Gartha called again, loosing all the calmness in her voice and body.   
  
Still no response.  
  
Gartha ran to the phone and picked it up, dialing the number to Brad's cellphone, only to here the operator come through and say that the number was out of service. She hung up the phone, her body shaking. A spark of hope shot through her mind, and she picked up the phone again, dialing the number of someone else she knew and trusted. 


	4. Chapter 3

Resident Evil: Return of a Nightmare  
Chapter 3  
By Windra  
  
  
  
Rowan's mind seemed to be swimming in darkness, gazing into emptiness and dreaming the old nightmares. Haunting images that occurred a month ago floated into the blackness, haunting her with the past. She could hear voices somewhere, but they seemed distant. Her body was numb and cold, and she couldn't move so much as her fingers.  
  
What had happened again? She remembered being hit on the back of the head, and she remembered blurrily staring up at the sky. She remembered seeing five faces staring at her, and one of them looked at her with sympathy. Was it sympathy? Rowan searched her thoughts and memories to try and find out, but her head began to ache. She stopped and plunged into darkness and coldness again, the voices fading away.  
  
Now it seemed that hours had passed since she had been knocked out, and feeling was starting to come back into her fingers.   
  
"Rowan...?" said a familiar, distant voice.  
  
The numbness that had once swept over her body slowly faded away, and the nightmarish visions of the past that floated in her mind swirled into nothingness. She could feel a soft fabric underneath her, but when she fell, wasn't she lying on the grass?  
  
iUmbrella caught me.../i  
  
"Rowan?"  
  
Rowan felt a throbbing pain in her head almost immediately, and, moaning, she lifted her right arm slowly to her head. Slowly, she pushed herself up right, stroking her throbbing head at the same time. Her right hand moved over a bump on her head, and she recoiled in pain as her hand made contact with it. Groaning, she wearily opened her eyes.  
  
At first, everything was blurry, but soon that too dissipated. She was sitting in a small, white cot on that jutted out of the solid cement right wall in the room she was in. To the left were stell bars, and a bar door stood locked to the left of them. She was sitting in an Umbrella cell, a place for people who were caught by Umbrella. There were similar cells all around the room, and Rowan could see other people lingering aimlessly in them.  
  
"Rowan!" the same voice she heard before called again, but in a low whisper.   
  
She looked up, and a smile spread across her face. Brad was sitting in the cell directly across from her's.  
  
"Hey, Brad," she murmered, slurring a little bit. She shook her head to try to shake the dizziness that had just started to spread across her away. "I guess they caught us, huh?"  
  
"Yeah," Brad whispered. "They caught us five hours ago, and just dropped us off a few minutes ago. They smashed my cellphone so I couldn't call anybody." He shook his head. "How are you feeling?"  
  
"LIke I've been hit by a truck...a tanker, at that..." Rowan leaned against the wall, sighing and rubbing her head softly, thinking about her aunt. "Oh man, I'm so sorry, Auntie..."  
  
"Before Jill and Carlos left," Brad said, "Jill gave your aunt her cellphone number, in case anything happens. I hope she calls her..."  
  
Rowan nodded slowly. "Yeah."  
  
Before either of them could say anything else, there was the sound of a door opening to the left of the hall. Brad crawled to the bars and looked down the hallway, and Rowan did the same.   
  
A man walked down the hall and stopped directly in front of her cell. His placid blue eyes stared at her coldly, and she gazed back blankly. The man had dark brown hair that went to his shoulders, and was wearing a black uniform, which consisted of a white shirt, a black coat over that, and black pants.  
  
Another man walked next to him, standing in front of Brad's cell. He wore the same black uniform, but he had cold brown eyes and army cut black hair.   
  
Rowan's narrowed eyes were trained directly on the man in front of her, and in return, he narrowed his eyes.  
  
"What're you lookin' at?" he hissed in a hoarse voice.  
  
Rowan didn't like the guy's attitude. Her head was becoming less painful, and she looked back at him with a matching glare.  
  
"You, obviously," she snapped back, and the man frowned.  
  
"Brat," he murmered under his breath. Rowan only glared back, resisting the urge to say anything else.  
  
"What d'you want?" Brad said.  
  
"The boss wants to meet you both," the man in front of Brad said. "I would suggest that you not try anything."  
  
The man in front of Brad's cell took a large keyring out of his pocket. On it were dozens of keys of all shapes, sizes, and colors. He chose a large, circular silver key and walked to the door of Brad's cell. He put the key into the keyhole and twisted it, and there was a metallic click of the door becoming unlocked. Brad knew better than to struggle, so he stood up andwas led out of the cell by the man, who took out a pair of handcuffs from his right pocket and tied Brad's hands together behind his back.  
  
The man handed the gaurd in front of Rowan's cell the keyring, and he chose a small, square-shaped brass key. He followed the same procedure, and Rowan stood up and allowed herself to be led out of the cell door. The gaurd took a pair of handcuffs out of his left pocket and put Rowan's hands behind her back, then put the handcuffs on. Rowan swore that he put it on tighter than he was supposed to. She followed him to the door down the left of the hall.  
  
***********  
  
Damien sat back in his desk chair in his office, staring at the door across from him. He was waiting for the two Raccoon City survivors, and they were being escorted to Damien's office by two gaurds. The man grinned and brushed a locke of black hair out of his face as echoing footsteps of four people worked their way up the hall. There was a knock on the door.  
  
"Bring them in," Damien snickered.  
  
The door opened, and the two gaurds walked in, leading a frowning Brad and Rowan in. The two gaurds thrusted the prisoners in the two chairs in front of Damien's desk and then stood by the door, waiting.  
  
"Welcome to our, heh, prison," he snickered. " I am Damien Roscwood, the leader of this facility. Brad Vickers and Rowan Naton, I presume?"  
  
The two didn't respond. They sat stiffly in their chairs and glared at him angrily.  
  
"Be stubborn, if you wish," Damien said coldly, "but you won't be able to resist answering my questions for long." He smiled and stared directly at them.   
  
"Where are we?" Brad asked.  
  
"An Umbrella facility many miles away from New York City, and double the distance away from the town you were captured in."  
  
Damien smiled and stared at the two prisoners. "I want you to tell me where your friends are."  
  
"Never," Brad said simply.  
  
"Simply tell me and I will free you both."  
  
"Not a chance," Rowan hissed.  
  
"Tell me," Damien asked, standing up, "why do you resist? Umbrella wouldn't have come after you if you hadn't found out about the T-Virus at the mansion."  
  
"If we didn't," Brad answered, "the whole city probably would've been infected by a month ahead of time. You can't play with people's lives."  
  
"We can do," Damien snapped back, "whatever we desire." He turned to Rowan. "Why do you trust these pathetic fools?"  
  
"If it weren't for them," Rowan said coldly, "I would've have been dead by now. Umbrella killed my friends...my family...and so many others... I trust them with all my heart. They told me the truth."  
  
"How touching," the leader of the Umbrella facility said sarcastically. He turned to the two gaurds and nodded.  
  
"Take them back to their cells," he hissed. "I want to start questioning them tomorrow."  
  
The two gaurds nodded and walked to them. The man with brown hair grabbed Rowan's shoulder and pulled her upward, leading her to the door. Brad stood up, glaring at Damien before he was lead away.  
  
As the four people walked out and the door closed behind them, Damien smirked.  
  
**********  
  
Brad's handcuffs were taken off and he was pushed into his cell within the second he stood in front of it, and the door to it slammed shut behind him. He heard the gaurd that had led them there turn the lock before giving the keychain to the other gaurd. The second man took it, unlocked Rowan's handcuffs, and shoved her in so hard that she fell to the ground. He slammed the door behind him and locked it shut, heading out of the hall as Rowan shot the gaurd a death glare.   
  
"You okay?" Brad asked, kneeling against the bars of his cell.  
  
Rowan nodded, exhailing slowly. "Yeah. You?"  
  
"Yeah..."  
  
They fell silent. Rowan sighed and leaned against the wall, closing her eyes. Brad did the same a moment later, letting his mind wander.  
  
iGartha, please call Jill./i  
  
**********  
  
"What?!" Jill Valentine's voice exclaimed over the phone.  
  
Gartha was able to get through to Jill on the cellphone, using the number the former S.T.A.R.S. member had given her before she left for Europe. Jill came on after the first ring, and Gartha had explained everything to her. She explained about how she had gone to the store and come back with Rowan missing and the kitchen door wide open. She told Jill how she tried to call Brad, but the operator came through and said that the phone was out of service. Jill was taken aback.  
  
Gartha nodded. "D'you think," she asked shakily, "that this is Umbrella's work...?"  
  
Silence, then, "I don't know, but from the way it sounds..."  
  
There were voices in the background, two men from what it sounded. Jill said something to them, and then began to speak on the phone. "Barry says that he'll call up the Exeter S.T.A.R.S. members. It's the team that helped David, John, and Rebecca get out of Caliban Cove in Maine. Maybe they can help."  
  
Gartha sighed. Jill had explained everything about the mansion incident and what happened afterwards, so she knew who David, Rebecca, and John were. "How...long will it take them to get here?"  
  
"I dunno...," Jill replied, pausing. "I'll have them call you and tell you."  
  
"Jill," Rowan's aunt said quietly, "I can't thank you enough..."  
  
"Just hang tight and calm down," was her answer. "We'll find out what's going on. Take care."  
  
"Same to you. Good luck on your mission..."  
  
They hung up at the same time. Gartha paused, staring at the ceiling for a moment, then moved into the living room and sat on the sofa. Felix jumped onto her lap the moment she sat down, and it began to purr calmly as it curled up in a ball. Gartha exhailed softly and closed her eyes.  
  
"Rowan, Brad," she whispered softly, "please be allright."  
  
**********  
  
I'm soooooooooooo sorry for the delay, but I had so much to do! My birthday's tomorrow, May 24, at exactly 11:11 P.M.!!!!!!!! I'm gonna be 14!!!!!! *Confetti is thrown everywhere* ^_^   
ANyhoo, this is kinda a boring chapter, but hang tight, I PROMISE it'll get better!!!!  
~Windra 


	5. Chapter 4

Resident Evil: Return of a Nightmare  
Chapter 4  
By Windra  
  
  
  
In Mayhill City, Maine, 45-year-old Raven Blackthorne sat back in her green recliner, brushing her long, black hair away from her face with her hands. Her blue eyes stared cooly at the ceiling. Raven was wearing a black tee-shirt and denim jeans, and a pair of sunglasses were perched on her head. A small coffee table sat to her left, where a black phone sat. The walls were made of wood and the ground was a tan color. The clock on the wall to her right read 11:30 A.M. Raven's husband, Sebastian, was at the Mayhill City Police Department.  
  
Raven and Sebastian were members of the Exeter S.T.A.R.S. Team in Maine. David Trapp and John Andrews had been on their squad, but they left when Barry Burton and his friends called them up. Barry was a good friend of Raven's, but she hadn't seen him for so long.  
  
A small smile played across her face as she rested her eyes to take a quick nap-   
  
-and, suddenly, the phone rang. Raven literally jumped out of the recliner in alarm, her sunglasses falling to the floor. The woman groaned and knelt over to pick them up, and, when she did, she darted to the phone and removed it from its holder.  
  
"Hello?" she asked cooly.  
  
"Raven, that you?" said a gruff and oddly familiar voice on the phone. Raven's memories clicked into place.  
  
"Barry?!" she exclaimed, trying to contain her excitement.  
  
"It's me," he said, a hint of cheerfullness in his voice. Yet, from his tone, Raven could tell that something was wrong.  
  
"What's up?" She said in a worried whisper.  
  
"We've got trouble," was his reply.  
  
**********  
  
Rachel sat in her office silently, staring at the other wall. Sighing, she stood up and began pacing the room.  
  
iHow could I have done such a thing...? Ordering Agent Briggs to hit the girl with the butt of his pistol.../i  
  
She paused, staring up and recalling the memory once again.  
  
iAnd then the look of confusion, surprise, and rage on the child's face...I'm so, so sorry.../i  
  
She sighed again, sitting down at her desk once again and finding an interesting spot ion the floor to stare at.  
  
iAnd then having Agent Jackson hold the man at gunpoint...how could I have ordered the agent to do such a thing...?/i  
  
She blinked, looking up at the ceiling and cocking her head. She hated seeing those two people suffer like that... They had suffered enough by surviving Raccoon City. Yet, Rachel had helped to capture them... She worked for Umbrella, the company that turned Raccoon City into a death trap...  
  
iWhich side am I on?/i  
  
**********  
  
Raven ran to the door of her black minivan, pulling it open and jumping in. She held a small suitcase holding her clothes and Exeter S.T.A.R.S. S.W.A.T. style uniform. It also held her gun belt and clips for her pistols, as well as silencers for them. There was medical equipment packed away in it. Gritting her teeth, Raven slammed the door shut and put the car key in the ignition.  
  
Half an hour ago, Barry had told them how a member of their old S.T.A.R.S. team, Brad Vickers, and a young girl who survived Raccoon City, Rowan Naton, disappeared without a trace.   
  
iUmbrella.../i   
  
Barry asked if they could go investigate, and Raven agreed. She knew of a desolate area that would probably be an Umbrella headquarters. The place was a weather monitoring service area in New York. However, it was too large to be one... If Raven's guess was right, it was an Umbrella facility.  
  
Afterwards, Raven had made a series of calls to the other members of the Exeter S.T.A.R.S. Team. She called Clarice Tailnya, the medical specialist, first. Samantha Ranters, the field scout, was next. George Thowl, the weapons specialist, was after her. Raven got ahold of Sebastian, who was the communications specialist, after that. She told all of them to get their equipment packed and ready to go.   
  
Narrowing her eyes, Raven pushed her sunglasses over her eyes and started the car. She pulled out of the driveway and began driving in the direction of the M.C.P.D.  
  
**********  
  
Brad sat in his cell, his arms crossed and his eyes trained on the cell door. It had been two hours since he and Rowan met Damien, and he was unsure of what to say or do.  
  
"Pst," someone hissed.   
  
Brad's head shot up. The sound had come from the cell to the left of him. He saw Rowan's head perk up slightly. Overwelmed with curiousity, Brad got out of his cot and walked to the bars. He sat down, and turned his attention to the next cell.  
  
"Who's there?" he asked, looking out from the bars of his cell.  
  
A man's head moved towards the bars in the next cell and blinked at him. His hair was black and styled like a buzzcut, and his eyes were stormy gray. Across the room, Rowan crawled to the bars of her cell.  
  
"Hey," the man said in a deep voice. He glanced at both he and Rowan. "What'cha in for?"  
  
"Survived Raccoon City," Brad answered, "and the Spencer Estate incident."  
  
"Lived through Raccoon City," Rowan replied.   
  
"Shit," the man whispered. "I used 'ta work for Umbrella, but I revolted. Got jailed 'cuz I went against their ideas after a while."  
  
Rowan and Brad were silent.  
  
"Sorry, forgot to introduce m'self." He extended a hand to Brad and nodded to Rowan. "Name's Justin Diaz. Nice to meet'cha."  
  
"Brad Vickers," Brad said cooly. "Used to be a S.T.A.R.S. member."  
  
"Rowan Naton." Rowan smiled, waving a hand.  
  
Justin pointed to the other cells, which were all empty. "Umbrella must suck at searchin' for people, cuz we're the only ones here."  
  
"I catch your point," Rowan murmered, looking out of her cell. "Umbrella sucks at everything."  
  
"Damn straight," was Brad's reply.  
  
The door at the end of the hallway opened, and the man with brown hair that had escorted Rowan to Damien before walked down the hallway, his eyes trained on the girl. The coldness in his glare was matched only by Rowan's intent stare. The gaurd walked to her cell door and pulled out his keyring, then unlocked the door. He grabbed Rowan by the right wrist and hauled her up.  
  
"C'mon, brat," he hissed, handcuffing her hands and pushing her forward, " Damien wants to see you.  
  
Justin and Brad exchanged glances. Brad looked up and mouthed 'Good luck' to Rowan, who nodded. They watched solemnly as she left the room with the gaurd.  
  
**********  
  
"Tell me, Rowan," Damien hissed at the girl, "where did your S.T.A.R.S. friends go?"  
  
Rowan was in Damien's office, sitting in a wooden chair with her hands handcuffed tight on the back of the chair. The gaurd was standing at the door.  
  
"None of your business," Rowan snapped.  
  
Damien frowned. "Speak, or you'll be in more pain than you ever were before."  
  
"Go to hell!"  
  
Damien advanced on her, slapping her hard across the face. Rowan's face was red with anger and pain.'  
  
"Tell me now, you stupid brat!"  
  
"Never!"  
  
Damien put his foot on a vacant spot on the chair and pulled Rowan forwards. Pain shot up and down her arms as he did so, making it feel like her arms were being torn out of their sockets.  
  
"I wouldn't tell you if Hell froze over!" she screamed.  
  
Damien released her and pulled back, staring at her angrily. "Tsk tsk," he shunned. "Such language! I'll teach you not to talk to me like that!"  
  
Damien raised his hand again, and Rowan narrowed her eyes.  
  
"Bite me, you bastard," she hissed.  
  
Damien's eyes widened with rage as he brought his palm down on the sore spot of her head. The pain was unbearable, and Rowan's body went numb again. Her eyes rolled back into her head and she slumped in the chair, unconcious.  
  
"Such a wimpy brat," the man growled.   
  
He snapped his fingers and the gaurd moved forward, took the handcuffs off of Rowan, and hauled her back to her cell.  
  
**********  
  
Gartha sat on her couch, her eyes wide open and bloodshot. She was afraid and nervous for Rowan and Brad. She rested her head on the arm of the chair and closed her eyes. She felt Felix jump onto the sofa and curl up at her feet.  
  
And suddenly the phone was ringing.  
  
Gartha bolted up and dashed to the phone, picking it up without a moment's hesitation.  
  
"Hello?" she asked.  
  
"Gartha," Jill's voice said on the other line, "good news."  
  
"What is it?"  
  
"Barry got ahold of his friend, Raven Blackthorne, an Exeter S.T.A.R.S. member. Her team is heading down from Maine. Raven says she wants to check out a quote and quote 'weather service area', because she knew that it was too large to be one."  
  
"Thank you Jill... Thank you so much..."  
  
"No problem, but take a rest before you give yourself an ultzer (sp?), ok?"  
  
"Alright. Take care."  
  
"You, too."  
  
They hung up, and Gartha stared at the cieling, praying for the best. 


	6. Chapter 5

Resident Evil: Return of a Nightmare  
Chapter 5  
By Windra  
  
  
  
  
Rowan sat in the corner of her cell, hugging her legs tightly. She glanced up quickly when hearing the sound of a door quickly, and hurridly crawled to the bars of the cell. She had been brought in for questioning about two hours ago, and, after about a half-hour, the unconcious girl the gaurds dragged in had woken up. Less than thirty minutes after she came to, the gaurds took Brad in. Justin looked up from lying down in his cot and stood up.   
  
As they thought, the gaurds were bringing Brad back from Damien's office. The man had a victorious smirk on his face, and the gaurds behind him frowned. Rowan grinned, seeing that he didn't give any information either. Justin gave a thumbs up.  
  
Angry and frustrated, the gaurd pushed Brad back into his cell. After slamming the door shut and locking it, the two gaurds headed to the exit. Smiling, the three of them got as close to the bars as they could and began to converse.  
  
**********  
  
The creature stalked its enemy cunningly behind a few bushes, arching its back and lowering its head. The enemy monsters looked around the area in a confused manner, sniffing the air and searching for its opponent. It reptillian body crouched to the ground and its curved, clawed arms flexed with tension. The frog-like snout sniffed at the air, its yellow eyes darting from place to place. The creature behind the bushes bared its teeth. The prey suddenly jerked up, dashing towards the bushes-  
  
-and with a quick flick of the stalker's claw-tipped tentacle, the frog-like monster was speared through the its skull. Its body became limp as the predator hunting it brought the tentacle closer to its fang-lined mouth. Within minutes, the prey was consumed.  
  
Damien watched from a window in the lab to the monster's room, smirking. Cougra took the Hunter Beta down easily, and there was no doubt that it could defeat even the Tyrant that had once inhabited the Spencer Estate, maybe even the Nemesis. The creature was incredibly strong. It was an exellent creation, especially since it still obtained the natural instincts of a mountain lion.  
  
Damien grinned, turning away and walking towards the door of the lab. He would go and add this to his report on Cougra. Walking to the door, he passed Rachel, who was also examining the habits of Cougra. She didn't like the creature at all, or any off the beasts Umbrella made, but she decided to see it, just in case...  
  
Standing up to leave, Rachel made one last note of the corpse that had been a Hunter. She noted the long, deep scar on the Hunter's head left by the claw on Cougra's tentacle before the head was devoured, and headed out the door  
  
**********  
  
Raven was driving her black minivan in silence, hardly looking to the other passengers or her husband. Her mind was in full concentration, and she was worried about what lay ahead. But she wouldn't show it, it would be her weakness. Sighing, she glanced into the back seats, looking at each of her comrades.   
  
Clarice Tailnya was one of the best members of the team. She was 35 and had long, dirty blonde hair. She was wearing a green tee-shirt and blue shorts. Her amber eyes scoped the van without worry. In front of her sat her dufflebag, filled with medical supplies, no doubt. Clarice had a tendency to be a goof-off, but she always took her job seriously, never forgetting to do something and always coming to the team's aid.  
  
Then there was Samantha Ranters, an exellent field scout of 21, and the youngest in the group. She had short black hair and yellowish eyes. She was the 'Cat-lady' because of her cat-like appearence and moves. The girl was wearing a white tee-shirt and denim jeans, and a blue cap was drawn over her eyes. Her supplies sat in a backpack beside her.  
  
Beside her was George Thowl, a young and extremely energetic young man. At 24, he was well known to be foolish at times, but he was always there when he was needed. He had short, buzz-cut style brown hair that shifted down his forehead and deep jade eyes that scanned the area. He wore a blue tank top and blue shorts. His duffelbag, which sat next to him, contained weapons of all kinds, from the simplest handgun to the most dangerous rifles. The bag alone took up almost his whole seat.  
  
And finally was Raven's beloved, Sebastian. He was 47, and looked quite young for his age. He had long black hair that was tied back into a ponytail and deep blue eyes. He wore a green tee-shirt and black jeans. He smiled at her, and Raven couldn't help it stare back into his calm eyes, loving every moment of it. She must have been staring at him for a minute or two, because behind her, someone cleared his or her throat, sending Raven back into reality. She turned to look at the road quickly, blushing madly. Behind her, the three Exeter S.T.A.R.S. members rumbled with laughter, and Raven and Sebastian couldn't help but laugh as well.  
  
**********  
  
One day later...  
  
Justin Diaz sat near edge of the cell, attentive and listening to Brad and Rowan tell their stories of Raccoon City. Brad had told him about the incidents of the Spencer Estate. He heard about Rowan's experiences at her middle school, and how she hid in the janitor's room before deciding to get out of the hellish city. He heard how Brad arrived at the city and become persued by a S.T.A.R.S. hunter. He also heard how Rowan met up with him and Jill in about the nick of time, crashing into Nemesis accidentally and saving Brad from certain death. They told him how they got out of the city alive with a new member. Finally, they ended their tales by telling him how they were caught. Justin looked at them both and nodded, then began his own story.  
  
"As you know," he said softly, "I used to work in this facility. I used to record the behavioral patterns of the bioweapons created here. For one year I worked at this place, not giving a care in the world for all the people who were affected by our experiments..."  
  
"Then one day, about two months ago, I walked in the lab as a few scientists were using the T-Virus on one of our human guinea pigs. I heard the man they were doing it to scream and yell out in anguish in pain. He was begging for mercy. It was on that day that I realized the true values of human life and what our viruses were doing to them. Umbrella was considering themselved to be above the law, and the man... It tore my heart out."  
  
"That's horrible," Justin heard Rowan whisper.  
  
"It is," he responded. "From that day on, I devoted my life to trying to expose the T and G-Virus to the government and make them see what Umbrella was doing. One day I was in the lab, trying to get a sample of the T-Virus when another scientist walked in on me. He told the staff and had me put in this cell for being a traitor to Umbrella. I've been in this cell for about a month and a half-"  
  
Justin was cut off as the door down the hall opened. The gaurd that had dragged Brad to meet Damien walked in, carrying a tray with three plates filled with two slices of bread each and three cups of water. There were straws in each cup, and a knapkin was next to those. When he got to the cells, he literrally shoved each plate and cup in their face. When he handed a cup to Brad, he purposely spilled some of the water on him. Brad just sat there with narrowed eyes. He reached down for the knapkin, ripping a small piece of before using to dry himself off. Rowan saw the smirk that was growing on his face.  
  
"What're you planning," she asked him, smiling wickedly.  
  
"A little payback," was his response.   
  
Justin and Rowan snickered quietly as the gaurd walked in again to make sure that they weren't sharing anything. Before he reached the cells, Brad took the straw out of the cup and dried it off quickly, then rolled the piece of knapkin he ripped off into a small ball. He dunked it in the water and then stuffed it down the straw, then hid it behind his back. Brad waited until the gaurd passed his cell before taking the straw out and placing his mouth on it. With one blow, the damp knapkin piece was sent flying into the air and onto the gaurd's neck.  
  
The gaurd froze and placed his hand on his neck, wiping the paper off and looking at it to see what it was. Brad quickly put the straw back into his waer, and was sipping from it as the gaurd looked at their cells, trying to figure out who had used the spitball on him. After seeing that none of them could have done it, he walked out of the room, and the three cellmates burst into laughter. 


	7. Chapter 6

Resident Evil: Return of a Nightmare  
Chapter 6  
By Windra  
  
  
  
It had been two days since Raven and the rest of the Exeter S.T.A.R.S. team members had left from the quet town of Mayhill City, Maine, on a quest to rescue two captives In New York from the clutches of Umbrella.   
  
The atmosphere in the minivan tensened intensly. Even Raven, a normally fearless leader, was nervous. They were now only three and a half hours away from where Raven suspected where Umbrella took the two people- a weather service area that was too large to be one. But if her guess was wrong...  
  
i...then we're on a wild goose chase.../i  
  
If it was the correct area, however, then the plan would be simple; find a back entrance, sneak in, get the two prisoners, and sneak back out. But it wouldn't be that easy, it couldn't be. Umbrella probably had a few traps set up in the area, just in case somebody decided to break in. And there were bound to be some drawbacks in the plan...  
  
Raven shook the thoughts loose and continued to drive. They would come to those bridges when they got to them. They wouldn't fail.  
  
As the black minivan zoomed down the road, the sun above slowly drooped to meet the horizon. The absence of its presence in its usual position caused the sky in that area turn a deep, dark blue whilst the area where the sun sat turned a dim orange and red. A shadow was cast across the land, making some places seem invisible in the darkness.  
  
Somehow, the darkness foreshadowed the events to come and increased the fear in the Exeter S.T.A.R.S. team members' hearts.  
  
**********  
  
Damien stared at his computer screen intensely, gritting his teeth in anger. He had just looked at the scanner map that scanned the areas from up to ten miles away to see if any intruders were heading his way. Something inside had told him to check it out, tugging at his mind to see if anything was coming towards them. His instincts proved right as he saw something moving directly towards the Umbrella facility.  
  
iProbably people trying to rescue those two new prisoners.../i  
  
Anger welled up inside of him like a balloon waiting to explode. Standing up and curling his palms into fists, he walked over to a single switch in his office. All of the cells containing the BOW's were sealed shut by air locks. Only certain people, given permission by Damien, were able to open them. The switch sitting in front of him was the master switch, the switch that controlled all the air locks in the facility. Currently it was on, but Damien would change that. Wearing a wicked grin, he reached for the switch and pulled it down, shutting it off. Laughing, he grabbed his Beretta off of the wall next to him and ran out of his office.  
  
The imposters would not win.  
  
**********  
  
David Schimmers sat at a computer desk, staring at the reports of the BOW's on his computer screen with his amber eyes. His long silver hair draped down his back and over his white lab coat. He was wearing a blue tee-shirt underneath it, as well as a pair of blue jeans. He smiled softly to himself as he read the reports of the human BOW's in the clear cell behind him, hearing but not heeding the moans of their hunger and the pounds of their decayed fists against the clear cell walls.  
  
iPshhhh.../i  
  
David looked up at that sound, blinking in confusion. Behind him, he could hear shuffling feet. And that smell...  
  
i What the hell?/i  
  
Wondering what was going on, he turn to look to see what it was-  
  
-and the last thing he saw and heard was a decayed face leaning in for the kill and piercing screams of co-workers in the area. He opened his mouth to yell, but his throat was ripped out and his mouth hung open in a silent scream, his eyes lifeless. The army of the grabbed various parts of David's body and began tearing the flesh off of him, leaving a growing pool of blood on the floor as they did.  
  
**********  
  
iPshhhh.../i  
  
Cougra's head bolted up at the sound, looking around with its hungry cat eyes. It hissed in anger at whoever it was that intruded into its territory, stepping out from behind the bushes in its habitat to see who dared to approach it. Instead it saw nothing, but it could hear moans, growls, roars, hisses, and screams of things outside.  
  
And it saw that its cell door was open.  
  
Hissing, the mutated cougar leapt out of the door and into the new surrounding, then followed the scent of warm, fresh blood and went on its hunt.  
  
**********  
  
Rowan woke up from her nightmare, sitting up, gasping and covered in sweat.  
  
It was another dream of Raccoon City, of the undead creatures that stalked her and her friends throughout the city, Nemesis, Behemoth, and of the cold, hideous laugh of Nicholai, the cold-hearted enemy that tried to kill the group.  
  
Rowan looked around the cell-room to see if Justin or Brad were awake, but she could see that they were both asleep. Shaking off the nightmare and closing her eyes, she laid back in the cot and tried to fall asleep again.  
  
That's when she heard the screams...  
  
...and moans...  
  
...and the unforgettable stench of decay...  
  
iThe hell?/i  
  
Thinking it was another nightmare, she pinched herself to try and wake up. But she could still hear the sounds and smell that horrible scent...  
  
Rowan sat up, yawning and opening her eyes. She turned to look out the cell-door, hoping to find a reasonable explanation for the commotion-  
  
-and when she saw what was on the other side of her cell, she screamed.  
  
**********  
  
CLIFFHANGER!! Finally, some action! Sry I took so long, but I was having hell with my pc. It keeps bloody crashin' on me!! Anyway, enjoy! 


	8. Chapter 7

Resident Evil: Return of a Nightmare  
Chapter 7  
By Windra  
  
  
  
Rachel was sitting her office, typing on the computer and scoping over the reports of the T-Virus carriers with disgust. She sighed and closed out of the program, leaning back on her chair and staring at the ceiling, trying to find a way to pass the time.  
  
That's when, out of the corner of her eye and through the large window on the wall by the door, she saw somebody running past the room. She had gotten a good enough glance to see who it was.  
  
[I]Damien.[/I]  
  
He was running down the halls with a gun in his hand, a wide grin spread across his face and a maniacal look in his eyes. Rachel had run out of her office to ask what was going on, but, one minute after she exited her office, the air-locked cages that held the T-Virus carriers opened. She heard moans and screams of various monsters, shambling and leaping out of their dungeons.  
  
And less than a second later, screams filled the facility.  
  
Blood began to splatter on the wall as people tried in vain to get away from the beasts, but only found themselves getting killed. Hunters and Chimeras darted through the area, impaling anything that got in their way with their claws before devouring them. The human carriers tore into the scientists as they screamed until their bodies hung limp. Some of the researchers were able to get out of the area, but only a few made it...  
  
...Well, until they got into the next room over, which contained the Jumping Recluses and Vipers.  
  
And Rachel could have sworn she heard the low, loud roar of Cougra from far off...  
  
[I]What the hell's happening?![/I]  
  
There was a screech to her right, and she turned to see a beast stepping slowly towards her.  
  
The thing almost resembled a mutated frog because of its shape, and the long, rounded mouth, but the resemblance ended there. It slimey, forest green skin pealed in some places, revealing the shimmering dead flesh inside. Blood trickled down its body, and its small, yellow reptillian eyes stared at her in hunger. Its muscular arms, which were so long that the webbed talons at the tips of them touched the floor, were pulled back, ready to strike as it opened its fang filled mouth to emit a loud screech.   
  
[I]A Hunter Gamma.[/I]  
  
The monster leapt forward, its claws ready to swipe her head clean off-  
  
-and fell backwards as Rachel pulled her Beretta off of her belt and fired a single shot into its skull. Its body fell to the ground, spasiming before it was completely still. Rachel stepped over the body and looked up.  
  
[I]So Damien's finally lost it...[/I]  
  
She felt as if her heart was being ripped apart when she heard all those people scream and die in front of her.  
  
Then she remembered the three prisoners from downstairs. They had to be alive, right? No monster could slip through those bars, except for baby Vipers and Jumping Recluses...  
  
That was it, then. She had to let those three loose and then they would get the hell out of the Umbrella facility. Growling, she began to run towards a door to that would lead to the 'dungeon', as they called it, looking back at the people she was leaving behind.  
  
Most of the people were dead or dying on the floor, being torn apart by the undead beasts. Those who weren't had become infected because of the wounds they recieved from the virus carriers, and were dying slowly, but surely. Others went to fetch vaccines or to get out of the facility, and scampered to various parts of the building. But most were weaponless, they wouldn't last long.  
  
Rachel silently swore that she would avenge their deaths, and the broken hearts of others. Silently, she treaded through the door with only one thought in her mind.  
  
Damien had gone too far.  
  
**********  
  
Brad was fast asleep, haunting visions of the past filling his dreams. Zombies, undead beasts, the ruin of Raccoon City, Umbrella. All of the images from past experiences were trapped in his mind as if painted there. Then something else came to haunt him.  
  
He could dimly hear screams from other people, and something that sounded like beastly moans of the undead.   
  
iAnd that smell.../i  
  
He was beginning to think he was hallucinating when a shrill scream pierced the air from across his cell.  
  
Rowan's cell...  
  
Brad opened his eyes quickly and looked towards her cell. Rowan was huddled in the corner of the room on her small cot, hugging her legs and shaking. Her eyes were wide and her face was as pale as a sheet.  
  
And when he saw what was standing in front of her cell, he couldn't blame her.  
  
At first he thought it was just the gaurd that dragged him to and from Damien's office, but when he saw the blood staining his uniform and hands, his skin dry and peeling, revealing shimmering patches of bone and flesh as blood trickled from the wounds, and could smell the sickly scent of rotten bile and sour milk, it was quite obvious what it was.  
  
[I]A zombie...? The hell?![/I]  
  
Brad could feel his stomach turn as the thing turned to face him, its blood-brimmed glazed eyes staring at him with eternal hunger. His face drained of color as well, and he blinked as he slowly stood up.  
  
From the cell next to him, he could hear Justin gasp as he awoke from his soundly sleep.  
  
"Holy SHIT!!" Justin screamed, making the zombie's attention turn to him.  
  
It shambled towards the former Umbrella employee's cell and pressed its head against bars, moaning as it stretched its arms through the spaces between the bulks of steel. Justin let out a long string of curses as it did.  
  
And then all was silent.  
  
From the open door leading out of the prison, they could hear gunfire of someone who was approaching their area. Something hit the ground with a gurgling moan, and a woman entered the room, firing a single shot from her gun at the zombie in front of Justin's cell, nailing it between the eyes and causing it to fall. She walked up to the cells and looked at them, and Brad was able to see what she looked like.  
  
The woman was around his age and wore a pair of black jeans, an open lab coat, revealing the dark red tee-shirt underneath, and held a standard Beretta in her right hand. She had long, chestnut brown hair that went down to the center of her back, as well as piercing green eyes that seemed to sparkle. She was actually very beaut-  
  
[I]Snap out of it, Brad!! Now's not the time![/I]  
  
Brad blinked slowly and she began to pull a set of keys from the dead gaurd's body, and went to unlock the cells. Rowan and Justin were freed and stood by the side, a look of shock over their faces.  
  
"Who are you?" Brad managed to choke out as she got to his cell.   
  
She looked up and smiled, and he could have sworn he saw something flash across her eyes when she made eye contact with him. Rowan looked at him from across the room and seemed to have read his mind, for she gave a grin when she saw the look on his face.  
  
"The name's Rachel Kinston," she whispered. "Umbrella...er...[I]ex[/I]-Umbrella researcher. I'm here to help you."  
  
Rachel opened the cell door and Brad walked out, stopping when she held out her hand.  
  
"Brad Vickers, I presume," she said with a smile on her face.  
  
Brad took it and nodded. "That's me."  
  
"I'm sorry about what my squad member did to you, I mean, I didn't want them to do anything harmful to any of you."  
  
"It's allright, no regrets."  
  
They shook hands, and, when they stopped, both were reluctant to let go. About half a minute passed until they realised what they were doing, and they let go, a tint of red gathering up in their cheeks. Rowan and Justin exchanged glances and smiled.  
  
Rachel recovered from the ordeal and walked to Rowan, shaking her hand. "Rowan Naton, correct?"  
  
Rowan nodded. "The only one."  
  
"Again, I'm sorry about my squad members... How's your head?"  
  
Rowan was totally unsure whether to trust this person or not, but something inside her told her it was allright. She sighed. "Apology accepted, and it's still painful, but it'll heal."  
  
Rachel smiled and walked to Justin, shaking his hand. "And Justin, it's nice to see you again."  
  
"Likewise," was his reply.  
  
They nodded and Rachel stood in front of them.  
  
"It's allright if none of you want to trust me, but we have to get out of here. It's a hell-hole, right now, but I know a way out. All I'm asking of you guys is to trust me for now, okay?"  
  
Justin, Rowan, and Brad exchanged glances, then looked back at Rachel, nodding. The older girl smiled and turned towards the door.  
  
"Erm...Rachel?" Brad began, and Rachel turned around to look at him. "What...happened down here?"  
  
Rachel closed the door in front of the room to prevent anything else from entering the room, and walked back to them and motioned for them to sit down. She sat in front of them and sighed.  
  
"Here goes...," she said slowly, and began to explain.  
  
**********  
  
Hmm? What's this? Maybe Brad's got a crush, and maybe Rachel does, too? ^_^  
  
Anyways, I'm truly sorry about the long delay. At first, my computer screwed up and crashed, but I would try to boot it up every day, but it would crash like an hour later, so I had no time to write. Then it completely fried, and I had to wait until I got a new computer. Then I got involved in some RPG's and forgot to write more chapters, and THEN I moved again, which meant I had to wait until the 1st of Oct. to get a cable modem.   
  
But now, I'll update this story about every weekend, so bear with me, k?  
  
PLZ forgive me!  
  
~Windra 


	9. Chapter 8

Resident Evil: Return of a Nightmare  
Chapter 8  
By Windra  
  
  
Rowan, Brad, and Justin continued to stare at Rachel wide-eyed, terror sinking into them. Justin was rather shocked at Damien's sudden turn. Rowan and Brad had had enough horror from Raccoon City to last a lifetime...and they hadn't even recovered fully yet.  
  
iAnd now this?/i  
  
Rowan took a deep breathe, her eyes narrowing in anger. She could picture Damien's face in her mind; his eyes squinted with maniacal glee, his mouth contorted in a ruthless, insane smirk.   
  
A face that could only match that of the power-freak Nicholai.  
  
She sighed angrily, turning to the fallen corpse of the undead gaurd and walking towards him. She crouched beside the body and began to look at the assortment of weapons on his belt.   
  
"We need to get out...," Brad was saying to Rachel, "but we need weapons..."  
  
"I'm way ahead of you," Rowan said, grinning as she pulled the holstered weapons off of the gaurd's belt.  
  
The three turned to her and watched as she tossed two Browning pistols to Brad and Justin. She picked a long, sheathed dagger and clipped the holster onto her jeans. Rachel cocked her gun, making sure it was loaded while the two males examined the weapons. Rowan walked up to them and smiled.  
  
Justin gave a wide grin. "I say that we bust outta this joint!"  
  
The four looked at each other with a smile.  
  
"Yeah," Rachel smiled. "Let's get out of this hell-hole."  
  
Both of them had agreeable ideas.  
  
**********  
  
A hiss sounded through the area, gaining the attention of nearby monsters' temporarily. There was a flash of color as a tentacle lashed out, impaling a zombie's head and dragging it towards the mouth of the murderer. Blood pooled on the floor as the creature fed.  
  
Several minutes later, a shadow darted across the room, leaving the dead zombie's corpse behind it as it disappeared from sight.  
  
One thing was on its mind.  
  
Blood.  
  
**********  
  
The four had made their way across the labs with ease, amazed at the little number of monsters in there. It was like they had migrated to a place where there was more live flesh.  
  
Rowan grimaced at the sight of blood on the ground, memories of Raccoon City flooding back to her mind.  
  
i"H-Hello?! Who is it?!"/i  
  
i"Mom!"/i  
  
i"Rowan! Oh my god, are you alright?!"/i  
  
i"I'm fine. Our school was..."/i  
  
iBAM!!/i  
  
She winced, pushing the memory back into her mind, fighting the fresh tears that had started to well up in her eyes.  
  
iMom...Dad.../i  
  
A single tear rolled down her cheek. She wiped it away, closing her eyes.  
  
iDon't fall apart...We need to get outta here...To avenge their deaths.../i  
  
i...To destroy Umbrella.../i  
  
iI will not fail you, mother, father.../i  
  
**********  
  
iBloody hell...no pun intended.../i  
  
Justin looked around the area, eyes narrowed with a boiling hate for Umbrella.  
  
iThis is getting too goddamned far.../i  
  
He looked at his gun, staring at it as if it was something totally alien to him.  
  
iIt's up to us now...up to us to put an end to Umbrella.../i  
  
**********  
  
iAnd to think...I was "Chickenheart" Vickers.../i  
  
Brad was looking at the floor, sighing deeply. So much blood...so much terror...  
  
i...Now look at me.../i  
  
He sighed again, glancing at Justin and Rowan, then to Rachel, smiling slightly.  
  
iI'm not gonna chicken out again.../i  
  
i...Umbrella's got hell to pay.../i  
  
**********  
  
Rachel frowned, looking at the ruined lab thoughtfully, her eyes full of sorrow and pain.  
  
iI can't believe this...Umbrella's gotta pay.../i  
  
She could feel Brad's eyes on her, and she blushed deeply. She glanced at him just as he tore his eyes away. Smiling, she turned back to looking around the room.  
  
i...We'll take Umbrella down...all of us.../i  
  
i...and then we'll continue and repair our lives.../i  
  
**********  
  
Just a summing up of how everyone feels...  
  
But I gotta favor to ask...  
  
HELP!!  
  
I'VE GOT THE WORST DAMN WRITER'S BLOCK EVER!! SOMEONE...PLZ!! PLZ POST SOME IDEAS IN THE REVIEWS...THANK YOUUU!! 


	10. Chapter 9

Resident Evil: Return of a Nightmare  
Chapter 9  
By Windra  
  
  
  
Rowan had grown extremely dizzy since they had left the cell area. She was seeing double from time to time, and was getting light-headed. She shook her head, not sure what was happening to her, only to pause for a minute as the world began to spin.  
  
Brad paused and looked back at her, and Rachel and Justin stopped as well. The former S.T.A.R.S. member walked up to her, and Rachel walked beside him, slowly pressing her wrist to her forehead. Her eyes softened.  
  
"You're burning up," she said slowly, cocking her head.  
  
"Do you have a medical room around here?" Brad asked.  
  
"Yeah, it's upstairs..."  
  
"I'll be fine...," Rowan murmered quietly, her voice somewhat out of tune.   
  
"Kiddo," Justin whispered, stepping up beside her, "we gotta take care of that fever."  
  
"No...seriously, I'll be okay..."  
  
She was trying desperately to get them to keep going again, not wanting to slow them down. The other three could see the desperation on her face, and nodded, keeping close to Rowan.  
  
There was only one problem...  
  
The lights suddenly went off. The group stopped, looking around worriedly, chittering about Damien shutting the power off, but the words only came as murmers to Rowan.  
  
She heard light footsteps behind her, but didn't know if the others noticed or not. Maybe it was because of her sicknesses, as rumors say that, when one sense grows weak, another grows stronger. And her hearing had become very sharp.  
  
She was dimly aware of an arm wrapping around her head and mouth before she was enveloped in her own darkness.  
  
Around two minutes after the lights went out, they flickered back on. The three remaining group members looked around the room in total confusion, not sure of what happened. They turned to look at Rowan, only to find that she was gone.  
  
**********  
  
[i]Please tell me I'm just dreaming...[/i]  
  
Those were one of the many thoughts that raced across her mind as Rowan dwindled in darkness. She was seeing visions of the past...so many images of her friends, of the happier times in her life. But those only lasted so long before she began to see the horrors of late September that year, of the things she wanted desperately to forget.  
  
She felt someone shaking her lightly, and she could feel the cold, cement floor below her. Her body felt cold, but burning inside. Over it all she could feel the delirium of her fever.  
  
She groaned slowly, cracking open a single eye and feeling dizzy as she saw the world spinning. Wincing slightly, she opened her other eye and, as her vision cleared, could make out a young face hovering above her.  
  
She blinked, then let out a low, slurred, "Wha?"  
  
"Are you okay?" a younger voice asked in concern, cocking her head.   
  
Rowan blinked in confusion, then began to sit up, looking at the person beside her and clutching her own forehead.  
  
The girl beside her was young, around twelve-years-old. She had short blonde-brown hair that went down to her chin and had blue eyes. She had a red hair band on her head and wore a red tee-shirt with a black one underneath it. She wore a black skirt, black socks and a pair of black and white sneakers.  
  
Rowan blinked again, then slowly nodded her head. "Fine...I think. Who are you?"  
  
The child held out a small hand and smiled. "My name's Sherry...Sherry Birkin."  
  
[i]Birkin? I heard that name before...[/i]  
  
Rowan held out her own hand and shook Sherry's. "I'm Rowan Naton." She pulled away then, looking around the room they were in.  
  
They were in a small cement room, a wooden door to the left of the room. They could reach it easily, had they not been in a steel cell like the ones her, Brad, and Justin had been in.  
  
"Where are we...?" she said weakly.   
  
Sherry shook her head. "The basement of this place, I think... I was brought here by a man...He brought you here, too."  
  
Rowan cocked her head. "A man?"  
  
The other girl nodded. "Yeah, he just left a second ago-"  
  
She stopped as footsteps sounded nearby, and the door opened. A tall man walked into the room, frowning slightly. He had buzzcut brown hair and wore a pair of sunglasses that concealed his eyes. He wore a black leather bullet-proof vest and a navy blue long-sleeved shirt under it. He also had on a pair of navy blue-black jeans and black army boots. The thing about him that bothered her the most was that his skin was an almost ghostly white.  
  
He paused, then looked at the cell, smiling when he saw that Rowan was awake, and walked up to the cell's door.  
  
"Thank God you're awake!" he gasped. "I brought you down here after you had passed out upstairs. I was so worried!"   
  
Rowan rose a brow, but backed away slightly. "Yeah, you took me away from my friends."  
  
"Friends?" The man shook with laughter. "Honestly, you thought those people were good? I know them, and they aren't friendly."  
  
The girl ignored that comment, and watched as the man walked up to her. "My name is Albert Wesker, and I can help you get out of here."  
  
Something in her mind clicked, and Rowan remembered the words Jill had told her when she first met up with her and Brad in Raccoon City.  
  
[i]"The S.T.A.R.S. team was divided into two groups. The Alpha Team had me, Brad, Barry Burton, Joseph Frost, Chris Redfield, and...Albert Wesker."[/i]  
  
Rowan got on all fours and began to crawl backwards from Wesker's outstretched hand, growling, "Get away..."  
  
Wesker rose a brow as he continued to advance. "What's wrong? I mean no harm."   
  
[i]"Enrico was shot down by someone we thought was on our side...Wesker. It turned out Wesker was working with White Umbrella, a branch of Umbrella that specialized in bioweapons experiments."[/i]  
  
"Stay away..."  
  
"You're just a bit delirious, that's all. It's okay, I won't hurt you."  
  
[i]"He had threatened Barry that he would have his men kill his family if Barry didn't cooperate, so Barry was forced to cover up for him. But when Barry overheard Wesker tell me that no one was waiting outside of Barry's house to kill his family, he ran in and gave Wesker a smack on the head with his gun. Wesker soon came to his senses, sicked the Tyrant on us, and put a self-destruct sequence on the mansion, but was killed by his own creation in the process."[/i]  
  
"I swear I won't hurt you!" Wesker cried.  
  
Rowan was royally pissed off. The anger and fear welled up inside her until she let it all out in two words.  
  
"FUCK OFF!"  
  
Wesker froze, looking at her in slight shock, but then frowning. "Language, child, I mean no harm."  
  
Sherry was shaking with fear, looking at Rowan and Wesker, not sure who to side with. Rowan never broke eye contact with Wesker.  
  
"You're a lying sack of Umbrella scum...," she hissed.  
  
Wesker frowned deeper. "I beg to differ. I may work with Umbrella, but they have done nothing wrong. They are just a pharmaceutical company that makes medecine to-"  
  
"-turn people, animals, and plants into flesh-eating, mindless monsters," Rowan finished for him with a growl. "And you used to work for the S.T.A.R.S. Team in Raccoon City, you were the leader, actually. But you betrayed them."  
  
Wesker opened his mouth to speak again, but Rowan cut him off. "You used them and tried to kill all of them, but were unsuccessful. The problem? You were killed! But how are you alive?"  
  
Albert gritted his teeth, knowing that this girl knew way too much. "Brat...," he hissed, placing his right hand on his sunglasses. "Fine, you are correct, but I am still alive. Do you wish to know how?"  
  
Before she could answer, the man slipped off his sunglasses, revealing two yellow reptillian eyes. Sherry gasped, jumping back and shivering, and Rowan simply stared at him.  
  
"You injected a virus into yourself, didn't you?"  
  
Had he been able to control his rage, Wesker would have realized he was about to let everything about him slip. "Yes, the G-Virus, right before I...'died'. I came back with super human powers, and now I am strong enough so that no one can stop me!"  
  
"You wish...," Rowan whispered, and Wesker glared at her, quickly wrapping his hand around her neck lightly and lifting her above him. Rowan was too weak to reach for her dagger.  
  
"What did you say, little girl?" Wesker hissed.  
  
"I said 'you WISH!'" she spat. "You will be stopped, whether you like it or not!"  
  
"Oh? And how do you suppose that that will happen?"  
  
Rowan gave a maniacal grin, and, in a split second, sent her foot flying into his crotch. Wesker's eyes widened as he crumpled to the ground, his grasp on Rowan's neck loosening.  
  
"Super human or not, you still have that weakness!"  
  
The girl looked at Sherry, and the younger child knew automatically what to do. Sherry jumped up and ran to the door, closely followed by Rowan, who slammed the cell door shut and locked it. The two darted out of the room, Rowan stumbling over her dizziness, and Wesker managed to get on his feet, running to the door of the cell and grabbing onto it. He twisted it off of the hinges, and blasted through the door the two children ran through.  
  
The children were nowhere in sight, and Wesker gave a loud growl, kicking the cement wall and leaving a large dent in it. He frowned and began running down the hall, searching for them.  
  
Rowan and Sherry, in the meantime, had gotten into a nearby ceiling vent and watched him run. When he was well out of sight, the two snickered, and headed off to the opposite direction in the vent.  
  
They would get out of the building. They would find Brad, Rachel, and Justin, and then they would all get out. They had to, or they would feel Damien and Wesker's wrath.  
  
*~*~*~*~**~  
  
Special thanks to Qwerty for the Wesker idea! 


	11. Chapter 10

Resident Evil: Return of a Nightmare  
Chapter 10  
By Windra  
  
  
  
  
At the same time Sherry and Rowan had gotten away from Wesker, Brad, Rachel, and Justin were still searching frantically through the room they were in, looking for any kind of clue that would tell them what happened to Rowan, but there was nothing there. Not a single clue.  
  
Yet, Rachel was still chilled to the bone. The lights went off so suddenly, then flickered on again, and she seriously doubted that the electricity went out. And the fact that Rowan had gone missing without a trace. She had only one guess, and it wasn't good.  
  
[i]Damien...[/i]  
  
Was it possible that he could've kidnapped her? Somehow, she doubted it, but it was the best idea she could go with.   
  
Unless it was that other man, the newcomer who arrived only a few days earlier.  
  
She shook her head.  
  
[i]No way, there's just no way...he was new, he probably didn't even know about Rowan and Brad being captive...[/i]  
  
But then again.  
  
Brad pushed them ahead, a single thought clear in his mind. He knew that the girl was smart, and he seriously doubted that anything bad would happen to her, but he was still frightened for her. It showed clearly on his face as they walked out of the room.  
  
They would continue to look for her, venture deep into the underground of the facility and search the top floors of the place, but they wouldn't leave until they found her.  
  
None of them noticed the pair of eyes from the shadows that watched them like a hawk.  
  
**********  
  
"So, where do you come from?" Rowan asked as Sherry and her crawled through the vents, the younger girl leading the way.  
  
"Raccoon City...or, what used to be Raccoon...," Sherry answered calmly.  
  
"Same here, but I just moved to New York with my aunt."  
  
"Neat."  
  
"Why does your last name sound familiar?"  
  
"Well, my dad was a scientist in Raccoon. But he...uh...you know. He passed on, and injected some kind of virus into himself before he died...then he attacked my mom, so I'm...an orphan now."  
  
"Oh...well, my parents died in Raccoon, too. Were attacked by zombies...That's why I'm living with my aunt..."  
  
"Lucky you...," the girl stated, pausing. "I mean, at least you have relatives..."  
  
"If you want, when we find my friends and get out of here, you can live with my aunt and I."  
  
Sherry did a double-take. "Seriously? You wouldn't mind?"  
  
"Nah, 'sides, I'm sure my auntie would let you stay. It's really quite living with her...my uncle passed away..."  
  
Sherry smiled, then nodded. "I appreciate that. Really."  
  
Rowan grinned dizzily. "Don't worry about it."  
  
They continued crawling through the vents, pausing whenever they heard a monster get too close so that it would try to get in. Once in a while, they would hear a low growl too deep for a zombie or a Hunter to make, but it began moving away from them.   
  
And from far away, they thought they could hear voices.  
  
**********  
  
Damien grinned widely as he watched Brad, Rachel, and Justin scope through the area, looking for the child named Rowan. Wesker did a good job of retrieving the girl, and he hoped that he was able to talk the girl and Birkin's child into joining forces with Umbrella.   
  
He thought back to the day Wesker brought Sherry Birkin into the Umbrella. The old couple that one of the survivors of Raccoon City, Claire Redfield, had left the little girl in the care of had done a good acting job, as they were retirees of Umbrella. After Claire left, the ex-Umbrella employees had called Wesker, who immediantly visited the house where Birkin's daughter was. Sherry had been gullable enough to believe the old folks tell her that Wesker was going to watch her while they went out to the store. After the old couple had left, Wesker took Sherry and drove her to Damien's Umbrella facility, where she was locked up in the underground dungeons.  
  
The man gave a cocky grin as he turned back to the three adults who wandered through the floor, studying each of them until his eyes fell on Rachel. A grim smile appeared on his face.  
  
[i]She betrayed Umbrella, the little wretch. I'll make her pay...[/i]  
  
He smiled evily as he began to lurk behind the group, slowly reaching out for Rachel as they passed by the shadow he was in. Brad, Justin, and Rachel were very alert, but they didn't notice his movement.  
  
Quickly, Damien shot out and wrapped his arm around the shocked girl's mouth, grabbing her arms with her other arm. Rachel gave a muffled cry as he pulled her slowly back into the shadows, and Justin and Brad swung around to see the sight. Damien grinned, removing the arm from Rachel's mouth and pulling the Colt Python out of her hand, then raising it to her head.  
  
"Come closer," he half-hissed and half-laughed, "and she dies."  
  
Rachel began to mouth something, but they couldn't tell what she was saying as the facility leader pulled her out of sight.   
  
"SHIT!" Justin yelled, running forward slightly before stopping.  
  
"Damnit!" Brad cried out. "Rachel!"  
  
There was a short choke of anxiety before Rachel's voice pierced the silent air. "JUSTIN! [i]BRAD!![/i]"  
  
**********  
  
Meanwhile...  
  
In the vents leading to the dungeons Rowan, Brad, and Justin were held, the two girls continued to crawl, nervous and scared. Rowan was struggling to stay conscious as her fever became worse, and Sherry was trying to find a way out of the vents, as it seemed that there were no more exits. Not to mention she didn't want her friend to pass out, and she didn't know how to handle an attack from monsters.  
  
Sherry gulped, searching through the vents as Rowan crawled sluggishly behind her-  
  
-until she crawled straight into something thick and hairy.  
  
Chills ran up her spine as she looked up to meet eight black eyes staring at her hungrily. She backed up into Rowan, who also stopped to stair at the creature in from of them.  
  
The thing was big enough to fill the vent up, but was small enough to crawl in it. It had eight legs and a thin, white, and hairy body. Its back legs were muscular and thin, as if they were built to jump far distances, and its abdomen was black. Two, six inch fangs protruded from its mouth, dripping with saliva and venom.  
  
Sherry almost fainted at the sight. She hated spiders, and what she saw now was about ten-times worse.  
  
Rowan began to frantically back up, and Sherry followed as the spider began to dart after them, giving loud squeals of hunger. The two children were too slow, and the spider was quickly gaining on them.  
  
But the arachnid suddenly stopped, arching its back and aiming its mouth at Sherry's leg. It hissed, and a thick white string shot out of its mouth, hitting the younger girl's leg. Sherry continued to move, but was stopped because of the spiderweb that was holding her leg down. She tried moving her leg, but the web was like cement. Her eyes widened, and she cried out in horror as the spider advanced towards her, its fangs moving in anticipation-  
  
-but Rowan moved over Sherry, holding out the dagger she had aquired from the dead gaurd and pointing it at the giant spider, which backed up slightly, but continued moving forward. The older girl closed her eyes and began to blindly swing at the giant eight-legged creature, her eyes burning, and she-half expected to find herself being bitten by the creature. However, there was a loud squeal, and Rowan opened one eye to see white, cream blood begin to pour from a deep gash on the spider's head, and its legs began to shudder as it collapsed to the ground, unmoving.  
  
She gave a deep sigh, and began to slice through the web that held Sherry down. Only when she was finished did she notice the sound of flesh being ripped apart. She looked back at the spider to see smaller forms burst through its stomach, looking around the vent curiously before jumping towards the two girls.   
  
A gasp emmitted from the children's mouths as they began to crawl away, but to no avail. Becoming extremely frustrated, Rowan held up her dagger and struck the side of the vent about five times with as much brute force as she could muster, and a hole appeared in the vent. Sherry began to stomp on the baby spiders with her feet as Rowan continued to try and widen the hole, and, just as one was about to bite the younger girl's ankle, the two slid out of the freshly made hole in the vent.  
  
They landed not so gracefully on the ground, and looked up to see the little spider began to jump quickly after them. They shuddered, and quickly climbed to their feet beginning to run through the halls of the first floor, shoving through the undead humans that were wandering the halls. 


	12. Chapter 11

Resident Evil: Return of a Nightmare  
Chapter 11  
By Windra  
  
  
  
"Rachel!! Rowan!!"  
  
Justin listened as Brad continued yelling out for their comrades while they trecked through the Umbrella facility. He sighed, knowing that Brad's yells would attract attention from the monsters that were nearby, but neither of them really cared if a whole army of T-Virus carriers would come to them.   
  
Justin could see quite plainly that Rowan was a good friend of the former S.T.A.R.S. member, and that the two would frequently atick up for each other. He could also see the sparks flying between Rachel and Brad, and the way that they casted glances at each other.  
  
Cute...very, very cute...But now's not the time...  
  
Justin cocked his gun and reloaded it before beginning to shout as well.  
  
"Rowaaaaan! Racheeeeel!"  
  
There was no answer.  
  
Justin gave a frustrated growl, looking around the area as he listened to their yells bounce off of the walls in an echo. Brad kept yelling, and Justin would join in after a few seconds.   
  
And all they got as a response was silence.  
  
Brad opened his mouth to yell again, but stopped, eyes widening as he caught a very distinct sound. Justin did, as well.  
  
A hiss.  
  
The two men exchanged glances before getting as far away from the sound as they could. They nearly jumped out of their skin when they heard a loud, primordial growl, and the sounds of a struggle between two beasts.  
  
And the quarry was very close by.  
  
Before Brad and Justin could get any farther away, two huge shadows rolled into the room, locked in a struggle between life and death as they fought each other for food. One of the creatures was long and slender, while the other was almost cat-like, but way too big. The beasts were concealed in the shadows, so the two had no idea what they looked like.  
  
The cat-like monster swatted the snake-like beast across the head, and there was a loud hiss as the snake creature bit into the cat, throwing its head back with the feline in its jaws and tossing it into a wall nearby.  
  
As the cat regained composure, its eyes darted towards Justin and Brad, and froze. It hissed, then darted off, leaving the snake creature alone with them. The two men gulped and watched as the snake slithered towards them and out of the shadows.  
  
The snake was huge, about 20 feet long, its head alone about the size of a human body. Its body was midnight black with yellow tiger-like stripes lining its scales. It had a yellow underbelly and long, curved, and sharp bones protruding along its spine, ending in a green hook at its tail. The green liquid around the hook signaled that it was poisonous.   
  
"Viper...," Justin breathed.  
  
The two men exchanged nervous glances.  
  
"Shit...," they whispered in usion, unholstering their guns and running from the monster.  
  
The snake gave a great hiss and lunged after them, its red reptillian eyes narrowing as it opened its mouth, revealing two nine-inch fangs tipped with venom.  
  
**********  
  
Rowan had fallen behind, struggling to stay conscious as her body was finally beginning to take the toll for fighting off the fever. Sherry was ahead of her, and they were both fending off the decaying humans that had appeared form the shadows to catch them. They were on the main floor, the floor where most of the T-Virus carriers had fled to in pursuit of the Umbrella employees who had tried to escape the facility.  
  
The older girl's vision began to blur, and her eyes were now burning intently. She shut her eyes to try and make the burning sensation subside, but it wouldn't go away. She winced, and something caught her from behind, its clammy hands clenching onto her left shoulder. She tried to pull away, but she had grown so weak that even the undead had ten times her own strength.  
  
Sherry turned to see Rowan's distress, and, shoving the zombie that had begun to grab onto her into a wall, ran to her. She tried to pull the undead monster off of her friend, but it was holding onto her with a death grip. It lowered its jaws and prepared to take a chunk out of the delirious girl's neck before Sherry grabbed the dagger out of Rowan's hand and stabbed at the once-human creature.  
  
It recoiled, its hands loosening up on Rowan's shoulder, giving her an opportunity to get away from it. The zombie moaned, reaching its arms out as the wound of the dagger, which was in its abdomen, began to bleed with coagulated blood. It quickly stumbled towards the 12 year-old, and Sherry raised the dagger again, only to be tackled by another zombie from behind.  
  
Rowan rushed in and pushed the monster off of the younger girl with whatever strength she had left, only to see it pull her to the ground and try to bury its teeth in her skin. The other zombie grabbed Sherry, and, in surprise, she dropped the dagger, gasping and pulling back as it attacked-  
  
-BAM!  
  
The sound of a gunshot echoed through the air, and the monster that grabbed Sherry fell limply to the ground. Another gunshot, and the one on top of Rowan dropped its head, and the older girl shoved it off of her.  
  
The two children's eyes darted towards the source of the bullets, and they saw five people clad in black S.W.A.T.-type uniforms walk down the hallway, holding Magnums in their hands. They began to fire at the rest of the undead humans that lingered in the room, but there were too many, as more began to pour from doorways and halls.  
  
One of the women ran up to the two girls, followed closely by a man. Rowan couldn't make out the features as her vision began to blur again, but the man picked her up and held her in his arms. She blinked and felt the man begin to run back to the others, but she couldn't make out anything else, as darkness enveloped her once more.  
  
Sherry cast a worry glance at Rowan as the woman who walked up to her picked her up and began to run back, and, at first, she began to relax, finally knowing that safety was on its way. But she tensed up as she remembered something Rowan had said to her while they were in the vents.  
  
[i]"My three friends are in this building as well. We'll find them, then get the hell outta here, okay?"[/i]  
  
Rowan's friends were still inside.  
  
Sherry pushed her way out of the woman's arms and fell to the ground, quickly getting to her feet and running back to the building, listening to the five older people call for her and chase her.  
  
**********  
  
Wesker frowned, walking through the facility with increasing anger. He couldn't find the two brats, he lost them, and the thought of losing something shot a hole through his body.  
  
[i]I never lose ANYTHING! This is impossible![/i]  
  
And now the Exeter S.T.A.R.S., no doubt sent by Jill or one of the other Ex-S.T.A.R.S., had arrived at the building, and Damien had run off.  
  
[i]Idiots.[/i]  
  
The man growled, fiddling with the Colt in his hand, and turned towards the stairway.  
  
"Well...," he whispered to himself, "if they wish to run off, we'll see how long they live."  
  
He grinned as he walked up the stairs, and up to the helipad that was on the roof. He would wait until the Exeters would leave, then he would get out of the area, and go to London, where he heard from Umbrella that Chris Redfield's sister, Claire, had gone to try and find her brother.  
  
And he would make [i]them[/i] pay. 


	13. Chapter 12

Resident Evil: Return of a Nightmare  
Chapter 12  
By Windra  
  
  
  
The Viper was still chasing Brad and Justin even as they reached the first basement level floor. The mutated snake's tongue flickered out of its mouth repeatedly, following the traces of heat that were coming off of the two men, as snakes usually do.  
  
[i]Flesh. Blood. Kill. Eat.[/i]  
  
The snake slithered along the ground as quickly as it could, eager for its next meal, for the taste of raw flesh.  
  
With a great hiss, it lunged forward, its gigantic maw opened wide as venom fell from it two, saber-like fangs. The two men, now desperate to get away from the creature as it gained on them, ran faster, with Justin sputtering curses madly-  
  
-and the ex-Umbrella employee was hoisted off of the ground, flailing and screaming wildly as the reptile's jaws clamped tightly along his lower torso. A mizture of blood and venom fell to the ground in a rapid drip-drop tune as the Viper lifted Justin straight in the air and began giving attempts to swallow him.  
  
Brad cursed and swung around, raising his gun and pointing the weapon at the reptile.  
  
BAM!  
  
One shot was fired into the air, and it struck the Viper's right eye, immediantly shattering it. The snake squealed out in protest, shaking its head wildly, tossing Justin out of its mouth as it did. The man slammed into the wall and landed hard on the marble floor, spitting out blood.  
  
The Viper quickly regained composure, and stared angrily at Brad with its one eye.  
  
It lunged-  
  
-and fell to the ground limply as a bullet was fired into its left temple. Blood poured from the wound as the snake's one eye closed instinctively.  
  
Not wasting time, Brad ran to Justin's side, crouching beside him and trying to find someway to cover the wound.  
  
"Justin...," he whispered, eyes wide at the sight of the damage done. "...Shit..."  
  
Justin was a bloody mess. There were two large, deep puncture marks just below his ribs, and each wound was bleeding nonstop. A clear-yellowish liquid was dripping out of the wounds and pooling on the ground, showing the full extent of the neom injected into his body. His skin was pale, eyes wide and searching.   
  
The ex-Umbrella employee wiped the blood from his mouth and grinned at the pilot, who was now desperately trying to dress the wounds.  
  
"...Nice choice...of words...," he choked.  
  
"Don't speak," Brad said, trying to be calm. "You're gonna be fine."   
  
But he was speaking too quickly and too worridly.  
  
Justin ignored the comment. "You know...what you have to do..."  
  
Brad blinked. "Wha-"  
  
"The venom...is a death omen...I'll only be...a...live for a...few more...minutes...if not seconds..."  
  
"The infirmary's on the on the other side of this floor, that's what you said..."  
  
"The infirmary...only has basic medecine...Anti-virus...downstairs..."  
  
"Then I'll bring-"  
  
Justin cut him off by grabbing Brad's gun hand and lifting it up, so that the barrel of the gun rested on Justin's forehead. Brad's face paled.  
  
"Take care...of Rach...and the kid...for me..."  
  
Justin gave a weak grin.  
  
"See...ya...later..."  
  
He closed his eyes an mouth with a faint smile as his breathing slowed to a stop. His skin drained of all remaining color, and the hand that was gripping the former S.T.A.R.S. member's wrist loosened its grip and fell limply by Justin's side.  
  
[i]Death...[/i]  
  
Brad gave a light, muffled choke, and closed his eyes for a minute, trying to register what had just happened.  
  
[i]No more death...please...no more death...[/i]  
  
When he opened his eyes again, he saw Justin's body twitch, his head move slightly, but his chest wasn't rising.  
  
Brad placed a finger on the gun's trigger and gulped.  
  
"Good...bye...," he whispered, and Justin's glazed, undead eyes shot open.  
  
A shot rang through the air.  
  
**********  
  
A gunshot echoed off of the walls, making Rachel's heart leap with hope as Damien rushed her to the staircase.  
  
Are they coming? Justin and Brad?  
  
Her body tensed as she resisted Damien's forceful tug, and the man snickered and pulled her harder.  
  
"Don't get so uppety, Ms. Kinston," he hissed smugly, gripping her arms so tightly that her circulation was beginning to cut off. "Do you hear footsteps? I don't. Try to stop me again and you'll have a bullet lodged neatly in your head."  
  
"Then go ahead!" Rachel snapped. "Go on! Kill me! You're going to anyway! Why wait?!"  
  
"Ah...yes," Damien whispered gleefully. He licked his lips and grinned at her. "Yes, well I was hoping we could have...a little fun before you die."  
  
Rachel's eyes widened.  
  
[i]Hell no! He's not thinking of...[/i]  
  
"You wouldn't dare!" she hissed.  
  
"Oh, I dare," he snickerd, stopping in the middle of the hall.  
  
"If you lay one finger on me, I'll-"  
  
"You'll what?" Damien said with a grin, kissing her on the cheek.  
  
Rachel pulled away quickly, half-crying and half-pleading as she tried to escape Damien's grip as he advanced.  
  
The click of a gun loading caught their attention. There were footsteps.  
  
"Let her go," a shaken, but familiar voice said quickly as a familiar human stepped out of the shadows.  
  
He looked like he had just dealt the card of death. His skin was a deathly pale, and his eyes were wide and had a faraway look plastered on them. His clothes were splattered with blood, and the gun he had that was pointed at Damien trembled slightly as Brad shook.  
  
Damien's grip on Rachel loosened accidently, and she took full advantage of that moment. She tore away and ran quickly beside Brad.  
  
[i]ThankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouTHANKYOU!![/i]  
  
It was only then that she realised that Justin was no longer with him.  
  
"Where's Justin?" she whispered to the former S.T.A.R.S. member.  
  
Brad looked at her and shook his head. Rachel's face fell.  
  
Damien began to laugh. "He didn't make it, hmm? What did the job? Hunter? Jumping Recluse? Viper? Or maybe even Cougra?"  
  
"[i]Shut up![/i]" Rachel and Brad snapped in usion, but Damien didn't falter.  
  
"Where's Rowan?" Rachel asked slowly.  
  
Damien chuckled. "Oh, as far as I know, Albert took her to the dungeons below with that Birkin girl. It's too bad they got away, and Albert fled..."  
  
"Albert...?" Brad asked, and suddenly felt panick stricken.  
  
[i]Stop it. There are lots of people named Albert... It couldn't be him...[/i]  
  
"Mmmyes," Damien grinned. "You should know him, as he was your captain once...Captain Albert Wesker."  
  
The S.T.A.R.S. member's eyes widened. "He's dead!" he cried out, shaken. "Chris and Jill saw him die!"  
  
"And the G-Virus that he had injected into himself healed him at the moment of his death..."  
  
Rachel blinked, then shook her head. "Impossible... The necomer was Wesker? But the G-Virus would mutate him..."  
  
"The G-Virus will mutate the person, true, but, in some rare cases, it won't. In Albert's case, he is now...may I say, Superman? Super-human strength. Extreme speed. Excellent immunity to weapons."  
  
A pause, then Damien raised the gun. "Too much information, sorry. Who to get rid of first...?" he whispered, pointing th gun at Rachel, who recoiled with a short gasp. "I guess you're it. I'll take care of Vickers after the fact."  
  
A shot was fired.  
  
**********  
  
[i]Mother? Father?"  
  
Rowan called out desperately in the darkness, hoping for light...hoping for hope...  
  
So dark...so cold...  
  
And in the distance, she could hear voices. Familiar ones, distant ones, ones that were total strangers to her.  
  
Three words crossed her mind, and lingered there.  
  
Is this death?  
  
Silence...but then again, there is only silence...  
  
And suddenly she was soaring, watching life pass, watching events unfold in front of her. From the moment of her birth to her first birthday, then continuing on until she found herself back in Raccoon City, and saw the scenery more vivid that ever... The undead monsters, sould torn apart by a company.  
  
And then she saw them.  
  
Justin, his wide grin gone as his pale white face and wide, glazed eyes stared at the ceiling. Sherry, travelling through the corridors of the facility, being tailed by the people who had saved her and Rowan. Wesker, standing on a helipad and waiting for the people to leave before he fled.  
  
Brad, standing beside Rachel in an empty corridor, with a man pointing a gun a them...  
  
Damien? She had never seen him before...  
  
And she watched in horror as he fired a shot in Rachel's direction, and watched Brad push her out of the way, taking two bullets-  
  
-and crumple to the ground.  
  
"NO!!"  
  
Her voice was shrill and worried, but no one heard her, no one. She wondered vividly if this wasjust a dream gone wrong...  
  
It was too real...  
  
And no one saw her, heard her...  
  
Except two eyes...  
  
Two angry, yellow cat-eyes...  
  
A giant cat-like creature was perched on the ledge across from her, above where Brad, Rachel, and Damien were, and unseen to them. It's fur was a yellowish-tan color and was mangled and stuck together with dried blood. There were many wounds along its body, and its skin was rotting away in some places. A large, long tentacle protruced from its neck, ending in a curved sickle. It's tail was double the length it should be, and was lined with spikes, as was its spine. It's claws were another story... They were huge, about six inches long, and curved. It's teeth were almost just as big and sharp, and its head was that of a cougars...  
  
It stared blankly at the area where she stood, sensing her presence, but not seeing her...  
  
And as she looked at it, she could almost hear a voice - the giant cat's voice. But it didn't have a voice...did it?  
  
She was growing confused, tired...the world began to spin once again as she fell, once more, into the darkness that enveloped her mind.[/i]  
  
**********  
  
Cougra stared at the ground below, watching as three humans bickered to each other, guns pointed at one another. It gave a low, light snarl that was unheard by them, and watched as the black-haired man rose his weapon at the woman.  
  
The black-haired man...the human that Cougra constantly found outside of its air-locked cage, staring at it with a look of glee plastered onto his face. The man who had so many times pricked Cougra with pointy objects and injected something into it, although it couldn't feel the pain. The one who had fed it, watched it, observed it...  
  
Yet, there was something about him, something that sent chills running down Cougra's spine and along the spikes that lined it.  
  
There was a loud, cracking sound, and Cougra's eyes darted downward, watching as two metal objects went flying into the other man, the brown-haired one, and the scent of fresh blood flew up to its nostrils. It watched as the other man fell to the ground, still alive, still breathing, heard the woman scream, falling beside him and leaning over him, trying to keep him awake, and the black-haired one laugh...  
  
And something caught its attention.  
  
Something across the room...  
  
Cougra swung its head to the ledge across the room, and its eyes fixed on one spot, a spot on the middle of the ledge. It could see nothing, nor smell anything from that direction, but still, what remained of its fur stood on end, as if something was there. It continued to stare, but saw nothing, until, finally, the presence died away, and Cougra felt comfortable again.  
  
There was another sound. More footsteps heading from the left of Damien, and a little girl ran in, lunging at the man and woman, but with uncertainty. The black-haired one grinned suddenly.  
  
"Sherry Birkin!" he cried out, laughing. "What a pleasure! Isn't Rowan with you?"  
  
The girl...Sherry...didn't answer, only looked over the man and woman worridly, whispering something Cougra could hear dimly.  
  
"Rowan's friends?" she whispered softly. The older woman nodded tearfully, and the fallen one looked at Sherry with a faraway look. Sherry smiled softly. "Good people are coming. They'll help... They helped Rowan and tried to help me, but I came back..."  
  
There were more footsteps, and a group of four humans clad in back walked into the area, raising more metallic weapons at the black-haired one. They glanced at the fallen one, the woman, and the child fearfully before surrounding the black-haired one.  
  
"Damien Roscwood," said an older woman in a hard, cold tone, "you are under arrest."  
  
The black-haired one...Damien...grinned. "Honestly...you're so naïve..."  
  
He raised the shiny weapon in his hands and pointed it at the older woman. "Umbrella will never fall!" And with that, he fired.  
  
But the older woman moved like a cat and dodged the bullet, then aimed her own weapon at Damien and fired. More blood was spilt as the metal hit Damien's elbow, causing him to drop the shiny weapon and clutch his arm painfully.  
  
The woman began to speak again, but something in Cougra's mind - or what was left of it - clicked into place.  
  
[i]"Hold the cougar down!" yelled a man's cold voice, and the wild cat looked up painfully as a sniper's bullet pierced its chest.   
  
Almost immediantly, the mountain lion was tackles to the ground, held by at least five or so men, humans. It was in total agony, pain roaring in its chest like wildfire and growing until parts of its body became numb. It stared up into a man's face, and chills were sent up and down its spine. The man who had yelled out had hair the color of midnight, and eyes that would make ice seem like fire.  
  
"Let it die."  
  
More words that came as a murmer as the world swirled, and eventually, fell. All the days of the cougar's life, from the day it was born, to the day he found a mate passed its eyes, and the cougar felt, for once in his life, despair beyond anything else...  
  
Then darkness, flying, a lost soul searching for ts place. The soul that withered away as its body changed to fit what its murderers wanted...a cold-blooded killing machine...[/i]  
  
Anger...  
  
Hatred...  
  
The first type of emotions Cougra had since the time it was alive.  
  
Death...  
  
Yearning...  
  
Revenge...  
  
A roar silenced the humans as Cougra leapt to the ground on its four paws. It walked along te ground with its fangs beared, his claws clicking along the ground. The woman and the fallen one's eyes were blank, awaiting death, thinking it would attack them, and the little girl beside them gave a muffled scream, recoiling.  
  
Pity...  
  
Despair...  
  
Murder...  
  
But Cougra simply walked past them, leaving the three humans dumbfounded. It walked towards the groupd that had surrounded Damien, and gave a low snarl, causing them to jump away and clear a direct path towards the black-haired one. They pointed their weapons at Cougra, but he ignored them, only lurching towards the man. Damien grinned, holding his wound tightly.  
  
"That's right...good Cougra...save your creator..."  
  
Murderer...  
  
Destroyer...  
  
But the mutated mountain lion kept walking towards Damien, eyes narrowed, and watched in pleasure as it saw Damien's face pale significantly.  
  
And Cougra leapt, pinning him to the ground, hissing and roaring in anger and pain, of hurt and despair, of so many things that it hurt inside. The ripped into Damien's chest, tearing at his ribs, scratching at his legs, clawing at his face until Cougra's bloodlust was satisfied. Damien's magnled body lay there, and he was still breathing, but slowly. The man stared up at Cougra slowly, eyes wide with pain and fear...  
  
Cougra curled up around him, never taking his eyes off of him, watching him as his breathing began to slow.  
  
Cougra would watch him die, just as Damien did to him.  
  
The people around Cougra regarded him frightfully, then inched away, gathering up the fallen one, the woman, and the Sherry child.  
  
And Damien stared at them angrily, fumbling with something weakly in his lab coat pocket. He pulled out a small, metal remote, but with number's large enough for everyone to see what was on it.  
  
2 : 03  
  
There was a bomb in the building, and it would explode in two minutes and three seconds...  
  
The humans ran off hurridly, and Cougra could see the fallen one stare at him blankly, with silent understanding...  
  
The way Rowan and Behemoth had exchanged glances...  
  
Cougra gave a snort of approval and watched as Damien's life began to slip away.  
  
For the first time since Cougra had passed away from its normal life, the mountain lion felt pleasure well up in it.  
  
And as Damien's dying eyes stared at him before glazing over, his chest stopping and the scent of death flying up to Cougra's nostrils, as the building began to rumble while the bomb began to detonate two minutes later, Cougra rose his hed to the sky, eyes closed, and opened its mouth in a loud, triumphant roar.  
  
Victory...  
  
And...finally...eternal rest...  
  
The thing Cougra longed for most...  
  
There was an explosion of light and sound, and then all was silent.  
  
___________  
  
Took long enough. I liked this chapter...Cougra has a POV, and had a desire for revenge against Damien. *pats the cougar*. Yer cool!  
One more chapter, then an epilogue. Next chapter will take place at a hospital...  
@beenieweeniw : Rowan came down with a fever. I'll explain in the next chapter, rather, Rachel will.  
Chow!  
~windra 


	14. Chapter 13

Resident Evil: Return of a Nightmare  
Chapter 13  
By Windra  
  
  
  
3...  
  
2...  
  
1...  
  
BOOM!  
  
There was a sudden burst of light and heat, and the roar of the Cougar monster inside was silenced. Debris from the Umbrella facility shot off in directions, leaving burning pieces of metal and wood, various dismembered bodies, and destroyed equipement lying on the ground. No one would be able to find out what the equipment was, or what had happened to the people, as everything had been fried completely...lacking any evidence of Umbrella's experiments. A tall, ominous mushroom-shaped cloud began to form over the burning wreckage, concealing what was left of the weakly supported roof, the helicopter sitting on it, and the black clad man standing beside the chopper.  
  
Raven shuddered as she led Brad, Rachel, and the young child, as well as her team, to the van, where Clarice was taking care of Rowan. Brad had refused to be carried, although his bullet wounds had punctured his left leg and lower abdoment and were bleeding excessively. But he was still weak from the blood loss, and Rachel was now helping him limp away from the explosion. Sherry was running along Raven and Sebastian, but quickly sprinted ahead of them, anxious to get to the van and see how her friend and soon to be 'sister' was doing. She reached the van first, and pulled the door open, jumping inside to see Clarice leaning over the older girl's body, on a gurney in the back that was strapped to the floor of the van, placing a wet clothe on her forehead.  
  
Sherry nodded to her and walked to Rowan's side, sitting by her head and looking down. Raven and the others piled into the van quickly, knowing that the police would find out about the explosion and arrive soon, and Rachel and Brad strode over to where the older child lay, an anxious look on their faces.  
  
Rowan looked like she came right out of a steam box. Her face was red, and her eyes were closed, rolling behind her eyelids as if she was seeing something in her dreams. Her head moved as she made weak moans, and occasionally opened her mouth as if to say something, but no sound would escape. Her body twitched as the ice packs under her back and head tried to cool the boiling, feverish blood inside.  
  
Rachel and Brad took seats beside Sherry, and Raven headed to the front of the van, starting the engine while the others took their seats, and the van began to move. Sebastian looked at Clarice, who now moved over to Brad to dress his wounds.  
  
Nobody noticed the helicopter take off from what remained of the roof of the building, or saw the billowing cloud of black smoke scatter slightly as the blades rippes through them...or saw the roof collapse as soon as the helicopter flew off of it. There was a small rumble as it collapsed, that deafened the sound of the chopper...and all was silent as the machine took off to the horizon.  
  
**********  
  
"How high is it?" Sebastian asked, reffering to Rowan's temperature.   
  
"One hundred five point one degrees," was the response from Clarice. "Going down slowly but surely."  
  
After a few minutes of checking Brad's wounds for broken bones or damaged organs, she shook her head. "Bullets missed the organs, no broken bones, no internal bleeding..."  
  
Brad looked about ready to collapse from the loss of blood. Rachel responded by pulling him up from the seat he was at and leading him to the floor and getting him to rest against the wall of the car, where he slowly began to drift off. Clarice looked at Rachel with a concerned look, and started over, but she shook her head.  
  
"I'll be fine...," Rachel whispered, sitting beside Brad and looking at him with a concerned look.  
  
Clarice nodded and moved over to Sherry to check up on her.  
  
There was a low moan heard from Rowan, and her mouth moved again, murmering faint words. Her eyes were still closed, and she was still unconcious, but...  
  
"...Mom...Dad...?...Can hear...you...but can't...see you..."  
  
**********  
  
[i]It was cold beyond freezing, yet there was warmth...  
  
It was dark beyond midnight, yet there was light...  
  
A void, black, yet lit somehow...it couldn't be explained...  
  
Voices...some familiar, others beyond recognition. Some stood out clearly, but Rowan could hear two the clearest. She heard the two very clear voices whispering something, but no words were audible, just noises...and the owners of those voices never appeared...  
  
"Mom...Dad...?" Rowan whispered.  
  
Her voice was distant, and echoed through the empty void, although there were no walls for her voice to bounce off of...  
  
"I can hear you...but I can't see you..."  
  
For a long moment, there was silence, and Rowan grew helpless. She bowed her head to stare at her feet, and let a small tear roll down and off her cheek and into the emptiness below.  
  
"Even in death...I lost them...I failed..."  
  
"You are not dead, Rowan...and you have not lost us..."  
  
That voice...  
  
Rowan's head shot up, and her eyes widened. Her mother's face, staring at her, transparent, yet heavenly. Bright green eyes...long brown hair...Susan...her mother...  
  
"Mom..."  
  
Another pause, and another face appeared next to her. A man's face, short, brown hair, tinted gray...blue eyes...Reid...her father...  
  
"Dad..."  
  
"We'll be with you...," her mother whispered.  
  
"Always...just remember us...," the father said.  
  
Rowan blinked, then walked towards them. "I will...you'll come back...won't you?"  
  
"We can't...," her mother whispered, closing her eyes. "We never can, Rowan...we have passed on..."  
  
"And our time is short...," her father whispered, smiling softly. "We must leave, my daughter...We cannot stay...you are stirring..."  
  
"Stirring?"  
  
"Yes...you're body is waking up, and so are you..."  
  
"Remember us...," the mother sighed. "Always...keep us in here..."  
  
Her mother's hand materialized, and pointed at Rowan's chest, at her heart.  
  
"Remember us...," the father nodded. Her mother sighed and kissed her lightly on her forehead, her father did the same.  
  
"We'll be with you...," they both spoke in usion. "Always...just keep us in your heart..."  
  
"I will...please don't leave me!" Rowan cried out, reaching for them. "Don't leave again...!"  
  
"Goodbye..."  
  
Their voices faded away, as did their faces...her parents were gone...for good...?  
  
"I will remember you...," Rowan whispered, and felt a jolt of pain pass through her body...[/i]  
  
...And suddenly, there was light. In front of her eyes, enveloping her body. She winced as dizziness took over, and she groaned softly, turning her head away from the light, turning her head to the side, and staring at a familiar pair of eyes. Brown hair, brown eyes...they belonged to a familiar man, who smiled softly. Brad? But he was shot...he fell to the ground...but she could see the blood stains on his clothes, and the bullt wounds...  
  
"Rowan...you're awake...," he whispered, wandering over and kneeling beside where she lay.  
  
"Barely...," Rowan whispered, forcing a grin.   
  
She noticed that it was too quiet. Nobody spoke. She could see Rachel and Sherry looking at her with small smiles, but they looked worried...It was too quiet...too ackward of an atmosphere.  
  
"Brad...is somebody sick?" she whispered, her eyes burning. She seemed to have forgotten about the fever, yet it lingered in her mind, which was now somewhat scrambled, as if she was delirious.  
  
"Yeah...somebody's sick...go back to bed, okay?"   
  
Brad sounded worry, too.   
  
"Am...[i]I[/i] sick?"  
  
A pause, then, "Yeah, you're sick...Go back to sleep, okay?"  
  
Rowan's body complied, and her eyes closed. She was dimly aware of the movement of the place they sat in, as if it was a car, but she didn't care as she dozed off into a restfull sleep.  
  
**********  
  
When she woke up again, Rowan was in a bed, staring at the ceiling of a room. Her mind was a bit clearer, but she still felt tired and sick, and a little delirious. The world spun slightly before stopping. She blinked a couple of times to get rid of the burning sensation in her eyes, and she turned her head to look at her surroundings...  
  
A small table to the left of her bed, with an alarm clock sitting on it, which read 1:30 A.M., a dresser by the left wall, a closet to her right, beside the door...a gray and white kitten curled up at her feet.  
  
[i]Felix?[/i]  
  
[i]My room?![/i]  
  
Rowan immediantly bolted up, and regretted doing so, as she fell back onto the bed, clutching her stomach as it began to stir. She gulped the bile back down, and everything memory seemed to click together, then fall apart again...  
  
[i]Maybe it was all a dream...?  
  
Too real...  
  
Where's Brad? Where's Rachel? Sherry?[/i]  
  
A pause, and she shook her head lightly when she got no response. She froze, however, when she heard footsteps...  
  
And familiar voices...  
  
She looked about as frightened as a rabbit. What is she was seeing things? What if she was daydreaming she was home, but was still in the Umbrella facility? Everything was scrabmled in her mind...she couldn't remember...  
  
There was a blur as a young child ran in, grinning madly. Blonde-brown hair, red hair band, red tee-shirt with a a black one under it, black skirt, black socks, white sneakers...  
  
[i]Sherry?[/i]  
  
She blinked and watched as the girl skidded to a stop at her bed. Sherry grinned widely. "You're awake! You were right, Rowan!"  
  
"Right...?" Rowan blinked. "Right about what?"  
  
"Your aunt said she'd let me stay here as part of the family!"  
  
A blink, and Rowan remembered what she had said to Sherry in the facility.  
  
[i]"If you want, when we find my friends and get out of here, you can live with my aunt and I."[/i]  
  
Rowan grinned. "I'm glad."  
  
"So am I," the younger child stated as she sat down beside the bed, leaning against it. "You feeling any better?"  
  
"Sort of...feel like I've been hit by a truck..."  
  
"Welcome back to the land of the living," whispered another voice. An all too familiar man stepped into the room and up to the bed. Brad.  
  
"Hey...," was the response from Rowan. She shook her head. "So it was real? It wasn't a dream?"  
  
Brad looked confused for a moment, but nodded. "It was real...all horribly real..."  
  
"Where's Justin..."  
  
The ex-S.T.A.R.S. member stared at the ground, shaking his head. "He...didn't...-"  
  
"-make it...," the girl finished, shaking her head softly. She remembered what she saw in her dream...that she saw Justin, staring at the ceiling, eyes wide and glazed, mouth agape, and a bullet wound in the center of his forehead. She gulped. "Then...what about the building...?"  
  
"It's been destroyed," another voice, female, said as the familiar woman walked. Rachel gave a weak grin, although her eyes showed that she was tired. "Everything...gone. No evidence of Umbrella's work..."  
  
Umbrella...  
  
How she despised that name.  
  
The thirteen-year-old winced lightly and sat up slowly, trying to hold down her upset stomach and talk at the same time. "Then...Wesker? Where is he? What happened to him?"  
  
"Wesker...?" Brad asked, looking up, his eyes shimmering with disbelief, although he already knew he was alive. He sighed and spoke. "Damien said he left the building after he found you..."  
  
Rachel filled in the rest. "We haven't seen him since...Either he was still in the building when it blew...or he got away..."  
  
"What about the other people?" the older girl asked.  
  
"They left right after we brought you here. It was too dangerous for them to stay, Umbrella could easily find their van..."  
  
There was another figure that stepped into the room. Gartha, Rowan's aunt, whose eyes were red, as if she had been crying. She smiled weakly. "Don't. Do. That. Again. Ever."  
  
Rowan flashed a grin, "Ah...I'll try..."  
  
Gartha walked beside her bed and sat beside her, kissing the girl's forehead lightly, watching her. "I was worried about you and Brad...don't do that again, please?"  
  
"I can't promise that," Rowan responded solemnly, shaking her head.   
  
Gartha blinked, then cocked her head. "Rowan...how come...?"  
  
"Cuz...I promised...," she stammered, struggling with the words, both from her delirious state and from the hurt of the memories she wanted to lock away...memories of the city of the damned. "I...vowed to...help end Umbrella...back in Raccoon. I promised to help...end them..."  
  
No more words were said, there was no time for them to be said. Rowan's eyes fluttered, and she collapsed back onto the pillow, falling unconcious for the fourth time.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Last chapter! Expect epilogue soon! 


	15. Epilogue

Resident Evil: Return of a Nightmare  
Epilogue  
By Windra  
  
  
  
Several days had passed since the Umbrella facility had been destroyed, since Wesker became missing, since the Exeter S.T.A.R.S. left to go back to their lives and since Brad, Rowan, Gartha, Sherry, and Rachel had fled New York altogether, and now resided in Pensylvania, still hopping to different cities and heading towards the Middle Eat, hoping to be out of harm's way for a little while. Rowan eventually broke out of her fever, and Sherry was now living with her and Aunt Gartha, as Rowan's sister and Gartha's daughter, although not biologically. Rachel also stuck with them, deciding to help the group out against Umbrella, and for other reasons. She felt like she owed them, and she spawned a great friendship with everyone, but there was another reason. Brad was still there, still refusing to leave Rowan's 'family' in case Umbrella ever found them again.  
  
Days passed, and soon weeks, and the group continued to move and shift away from Umbrella's prying eyes as much as possible, trying to stay out of sight. They had gone back to the way they were after the Raccoon City incident, except they had two new companions. Jill, Carlos, and the others in Europe were still plotting how to get into the main Umbrella headquarters in Europe. Rowan was still trying to hack into Umbrella's files. Rachel was now helping Brad and Rowan, since she knew most of the codes to get into most of Umbrella's files, and Sherry was doing whatever she could to help, as was Gartha.  
  
Brad seemed to get worse, though. He was becoming more frightened of small things, almost always jumping if someone merely put a hand on his shoulder. Something had shaken him, something terrible, and everyone had a good idea of what it was...  
  
Wesker was supposed to have been dead, but if he was still very much alive, with strength that could surpass the most Steroid-packed wrestler, it was not good news to the ex-S.T.A.R.S. members. Even Jill was shocked when Brad called with the frightening news, as she had fainted while she was on the phone at the mention of Wesker being alive, and that only increased the tension growing in the air.  
  
Rachel was determined to change that.  
  
**********  
  
One week later...  
  
Brad was now walking down the small, damp street of a Pennsylvania town, his eyes wide and blankly staring at the ground, as if he had found something interesting to look at. His face was emotionless, except for the traces of fear and depression that were on his face, and he was dressed in casual clothing...a pair of denim jeans, a white tee-shirt, and a green jacket. Nothing special...then again, there was nothing special about today.   
  
A small rumble of thunder was heard, but it was so faint that one couldn't tell if it was the thrum of a distant car's engine or not. The sky above swirled with gray and black clouds, blotting out the night sky. It was cold out, but not cold enough to freeze the droplets of rain that fell to the ground, forming puddles and, sometimes, little streams if the conditions were right. The street was almost completely abandonned if it hadn't been for the few other people who were taking an evening stroll in the rainy weather.  
  
Brad blinked, tugging the coat tighter around himself, shivering slightly before looking up, panicked. He heard footsteps, fast-paced, running behind him. Probably Rowan or Sherry, but still, he was too shaken up to take anything lightly anymore.  
  
"Brad...?" a woman's voice whispered softly, trying not to frighten him. The voice didn't belong to Rowan or Sherry, nor Gartha. He still recognized it.  
  
"Hey, Rach...," he answered solemnly, staring at the ground again. The woman gave a small smile and patted him on the shoulder, but her expression turned to worry as she saw the look of emptiness on his face.   
  
"Brad...," she whispered. "C'mon...cheer up...it's over...for now..."  
  
He looked up at her slightly, just enough to make out what she was wearing. A blue tee-shirt and black jeans. She wasn't even wearing a coat, as if she had just ran out to meet him.   
  
The corner of his lips curved upward slightly, then shook his head. "I wish I could cheer up," he said softly. "Too much is on my mind, way too much...and it all hurts..."  
  
"Do you want to talk about it?" Rachel asked, raising a brow.   
  
"Nah...I'll be fine for now..."  
  
Rachel shuddered softly from the cold, and Brad stood up straight, removing his jacket and placing it on her, while she tried to refuse it.  
  
"I'm fine...," the woman whispered, still shaking.  
  
"You'll catch a cold," Brad replied, ignoring the raindrops that hit him. "You can use it, I don't mind..."  
  
"But-"  
  
"It's okay, I'll be fine."  
  
Rachel paused for a minute, then nodded softly, knowing that it would be useless to try and argue over it. She sighed, then continued the conversation. "Anyway...Look, Wesker may be alive...," -Brad cringed at the mention of his name- "...but, if you keep fearing the fact...nothing will change. He'll feed off of your fear...Time will pass on...and hopefully, so will Wesker..."  
  
"But that's not it," Brad whispered softly. "If I didn't abandonn everyone in the Arklay Mountains...no one would've been killed...by Wesker's hands...He knew about what would happen, he even said so, and if I didn't flee...no one would have been killed, like Wesker wanted...So many people were killed because of my actions, Rach, all because of me..."  
  
"Brad, you're missing something...," Rachel spoke up. Brad looked at her with blank eyes. The woman shook her head before staring directly at him. "If you didn't flee...your friends would never have found out about Umbrella's experiments...You wouldn't have discovered what Umbrella was doing..."  
  
"What's wrong with that?" Brad asked, raising a questioning brow.  
  
"Umbrella would've continued their experiments without any interference, meaning that Raccoon City would've been overrun by monsters two months or so earlier than September. All those people you escaped the city with would probably be dead, because you weren't there..."  
  
Brad blinked for a minute before processing the words. She had a point. If he hadn't been there, Jill would've been killed...and, more than likely, Rowan and Carlos as well. They would've all wound up dead, and so would he.  
  
And if he hadn't fled...if he stayed when his team needed him the most...Umbrella would still be thought of as a normal pharmaceutical company. Nobody would suspect them, and no one would be aware of the T-Virus or G-Virus....and so many innocent people would've been killed, both from experimentation and sudden outbreaks.  
  
Now it was Brad's turn to shiver, both from the combination of rain and the chill in the air, and of the thought of so many deaths. Rachel smiled suddenly, and walked up beside him, wrapping one side of the jacket around him so that they were both covered by it, and she didn't see him blush.  
  
"Uhm...er...eh...," he stammered as Rachel leaned against him slightly. His cheeks were now glowing a bright crimson. Rachel, in the meanwhile, seemed to be enjoying it. She looked up, then giggled when she saw the predicament he was in - he was choking for words, and his face was bright red.   
  
"Uhm...Rach...?" he finally managed to choke out.  
  
She nodded. "Yeah?"  
  
"Wannagoouttodinnerwithme?"  
  
She laughed lightly. He looked so cute! "I'd love to!"  
  
In the meanwhile, two faces peered out of the window of a nearby house, watching the two speaking to each other and heading in the direction of a resturaunt down the road. The two people, two young girls, exchanged glances and grinned.   
  
"They look cute together," the older, Rowan, whispered with a giggle.  
  
"They do, don't they?" Sherry, the youngest, laughed out.  
  
They chuckled and looked out the window again, with Sherry watching intently and Rowan chanting, "Go on, Rach, kiss him!"  
  
"C'mon, c'mon!" Sherry chimed in. "Brad, give her a peck on the cheek or something!"  
  
"You can do it!"  
  
They fell silent as they saw Rachel look at him and smile. "Brad?"  
  
He looked over with a smile. "Yeah?"  
  
A pause, then Rachel leaned in and kissed him on the cheek. "Thank you for saving me in that facility..."  
  
Brad blinked, and the blush dissappeared momentarily. "Welcome..." He gave a nervous smile, then returned the kiss. He nodded. "And...thanks for being there."  
  
"Welcome," Rachel giggled.  
  
After a second, they continued to walk down the road, arms wrapped around each other, and speaking to each other, with Rachel blushing madly and Brad grinning like an idiot.  
  
_____________  
  
Sappy, yet cute ending! A V-Day special epilogue! *huggles Brad and Rachel* You two are cute!!  
And yes, Brad IS my favorite character in all of RE. For those of you who think he deserves to die? *flashes middle finger* Deal with it.  
  
And, to make up for my crappiness, I'm gonna include a very short excerpt from the sequel to this story, the next installment of my RE series, which takes place 5 years later...in the year 2003!   
  
****SPOILER****SPOILER****SPOILER****SPOILER*****  
  
A strong scent of bile and rotten eggs filled the air as the army of the undead came closer, but all her thoughts were on one zombie at a time. Rowan gripped her Colt Python tightly, gritting her teeth and aiming at the nearest undead human - a human ripped apart by the T-Virus, a human who once lived a normal life before it was infected, and a human who was now dripping rotten flesh onto the ground. Its jaw had been shot, leaving it hanging like a door on a single hinge. It's eyes were a ghostly white, covered with a thick white film, and its body was covered with various scratch and bite and bullet wounds. Coagulated blood covered its clothes, which were ragged and torn, missing in chunks in some places. It's hair was thick and greasy and black, and its chest had a gaping hole where someone must-ve shot it with a very powerful fire-arm. It moaned, raising its bony, torn arms and reaching out for her, its cracked lips opening wide to reveal blood-stained teeth.  
  
BAM!  
  
And it hit the ground as a matter of blood and bones and brains exploded from where it's head had once been. It hit the ground and lay in a crumpled heap, twitching slightly as Rowan reloaded her weapon. She looked back at the others, and a look of relief washed over her face as she saw that they were still fending off for themselves quite well. She headed towards them, ready to fire at any approaching zombie-  
  
-and was almost immediantly blinded by a sudden flash of light from above, followed by the low crackling boom of thunder.  
  
Thunder? That storm is already here?!  
  
Indeed it was, and, as she looked up, she could see the mass of large, black clouds, tinted a yellowish-green and swirling in a counter-clockwise direction. And she noted that there was no rain falling...no rain...yet she could hear the loud CLUNKs of something heavy falling out of the sky nearby, and she could see shafts of what appeared to be hail stones raining down on the houses about half a mile away. And there was an updraft, growing stronger by the second...  
  
Not good...  
  
There was another burst of light, and Rowan saw a thin, reedy lightning bolt begin to crawl along the swirling cloud above them like a spider, breaking up into smaller branches and moving along the bottom of the cloud as if searching for a place to hide. As it moved past a certain spot on the cloud, she could see something poking out of the cloud...a cone shape that slowly began to stretch out and twist and spin, rotating...  
  
  
__That's all for now, kiddies! Enjoy!!___ 


End file.
